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A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage 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 frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.