Parents Hit With $132,000 Bill After Child Breaks Art Piece

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Parents of a 5-year-old boy have been hit hard with a $132,000 bill after their child knocked over a sculpture.

CCTV footage of the whole ordeal last month shows the kid appearing to reach out to the sculpture at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas.

While attending a wedding reception at the community center, according to CBS Local, the child appeared to attempt to prop up the art to stop it from falling, prior to it wobbling and hitting the floor.

A few days later, the insurance company who represent the city of Overland Park sent the family a $132,000 claim. 

The company said that the piece, entitled Aphrodite di Kansas City, was damaged beyond repair, ABC News reported.

The insurance letter noted: “You’re responsible for the supervision of a minor child[…] your failure to monitor could be considered negligent.”

Sarah Goodman, the child’s Mom, told ABC News she was “offended” that she was called negligent, and said that the exhibition was treated “like a crime scene” after her son knocked over the sculpture.

Bill Lyons, the artist who created the piece, told ABC News it was 2 years in the making, and was on sale for $132,000. 

Lyons said that it was beyond his “capabilities and desires” to mend it. The parents argue that the sculpture should have been better protected if it carried such a high price tag.

“It’s in the main walkway. Not a separate room. No plexiglass. Not protected. Not held down,” Goodman told KSHB.com. “There was no border around it. There wasn’t even a sign around it that said, ‘Do not touch.’”

Goodman told reporters that the bill is “completely astronomical.”

Since the incident, the child has been having “bad dreams every night,” she said.

The City of Oakland didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Sean Reilly, a spokesperson with the City of Overland Park, told reporters that the piece was loaned to the city and there is a “societal responsibility” for visitors to understand that art should not be interacted with – unless otherwise stated.

He told ABC News that the community center has never had problems with artwork before. 

“We’ve not had this situation […] we’ve not had kids climb on our pieces,” he said.

The family says they are now trying to work out how to pay for the bill and may need to dip into their homeowners’ insurance.