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A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

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

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.