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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

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

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

She said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

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

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