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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

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

The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.