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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.