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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge 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.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She said the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.