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A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.

The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

She added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.

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

Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.