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A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

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

A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate 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 welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

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

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