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

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.