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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.

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

She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.

When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 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 ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.