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A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the sculpture.

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

She added the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.