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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.