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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, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

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

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

She said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.