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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.