A Utah family says their toddler shredded an envelope containing more than $1,000 in cash meant to pay for football season tickets.

Ben and Jackee Belnap — of Salt Lake City, Utah — had saved for about a year to pay for University of Utah football season tickets, Jackee confirmed in a written comment to USA TODAY.

Jackee wrote that they kept the money "locked in a file cabinet until it was time to pay (Ben's) parents. We then put it in an envelope." That envelope was labeled "Utah Utes Tickets" and contained $1,060. Jackee said that they placed the envelope on a counter so they'd remember to deliver it to family.

But over the weekend, the envelope disappeared, the couple told KSL-TV. They searched the house — even through the trash — looking for the missing cash, they told the station.

Soon Jackee held up a shredder: "I think the money is in here," Ben recalled her saying.

Their 2-year-old son, Leo, had used the shredder in the past under his parents' supervision, they told KSL.

When they opened the shredder, they found that Leo had decided to shred something on his own: The envelope filled with the hard-earned cash.

"Yup. 2 year old shredded $1,060," Ben tweeted Tuesday.

The couple's initial reaction? Laughter. Then some tears.

"We started laughing. We were just baffled that this could happen," Ben told KSL.

"I cried for a minute. You can't say we just laughed," Jackee corrected with a smile.

The Belnaps might not be out that money forever. The couple told the station a government office which deals in mutilated cash might be able to replace the money, KTVX reports.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing can work with people who have mutilated cash. Examples include water damaged or burned cash, according to the bureau's website.

The process takes between six months and three years, the website says.

Even so, Leo is banned from using the shredder for the time being, Jackee said.