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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

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

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.