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A young person from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.

In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor 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.”

She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.

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

Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.