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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.