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A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.

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

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”

The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and appearance.

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 marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.