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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.