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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure 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 repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in 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.”

She said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.