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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.

At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.