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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.