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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor added the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.