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A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

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