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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.

In a statement at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

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

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.