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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.

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

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.

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