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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

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

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

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.