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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.