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

The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone 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 recent event, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

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

“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”

She added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.

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

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.