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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

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

She added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.