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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.