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A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

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

At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.

Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.