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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.

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

Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.

The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.

“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

The mayor said the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.

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

Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.