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

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.