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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She said the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.