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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.

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

The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.

At the time the artwork 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 legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.