The boy is shown above on surveillance footage approaching the sculpture and putting his arms around it as his mother sits on a sofa nearby. Photo / City of Overland Park
The boy is shown above on surveillance footage approaching the sculpture and putting his arms around it as his mother sits on a sofa nearby. Photo / City of Overland Park
A boy's parents have been hit with a $132,000 bill after he accidentally knocked over a glass sculpture by hugging it.
The boy was at a wedding reception at Overland Park community center in Kansas City, Kansas, where Aphrodite di Kansas City, a glass and mirror sculpture, was on displayon May 19.
Surveillance footage shows him toddling up towards it and wrapping his arms around it while his mother Shannon Goodman and other adults chat on sofas nearby, reports Daily Mail.
He accidentally pulled it towards him and it toppled over on to him, causing damage to the back of the figure's head and arms.
It left him with scratches on his face. In the video, he sheepishly looked towards his mother after the accident.
Now, the artist Bill Lyons wants to be reimbursed for the money he says he has lost because he can't sell it.
He estimated its worth to be $132,000.
Lyons had loaned the sculpture to the city of Overland Park to put on display. It was the city's representatives who contacted Goodman asking for her to pay.
The boy is shown above on surveillance footage approaching the sculpture and putting his arms around it as his mother sits on a sofa nearby. Photo / City of Overland Park
She had expected the sculpture to be much less valuable and was stunned when she received a letter from the city's insurance company.
"It's clear accidents happen and this was an accident. I don't want to diminish the value of their art. But I can't pay for that," she told The Kansas City Star.
She explained that she was saying goodbye to the bride's father when her son wandered off towards the statue but insisted he and his three siblings, who were also there, are always well behaved.
"He probably hugged it.
"Maybe my son hugged a torso because he's a loving, sweet nice boy who just graduated from preschool."
A spokesman for the city of Overland Park said it had filed a claim with Travelers, its insurance company.
"The city has a responsibility to file a claim with our insurance company, and we do that any time city property is damaged.
"It will be up to the insurance companies to get this worked out," they said.
Lyons, the artist, said: "I want to be reimbursed for the amount of time that I spent on it and for what I think it is worth."
