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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

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