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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.