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A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge 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 city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.