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A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.

Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.

Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.

The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in December.

A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming 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 costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”

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

When the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.

Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.