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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.

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

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.