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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date 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 adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.