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 display on 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.

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.

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

He pulled it towards him and was overpowered by its weight

With the statue on the floor, the boy rolled out from under it and got to his feet

He then ran away as his mother approached to see what had happened

Now, the artist Bill Lyons wants to be reimbursed for the money he says he has lost because he can't sell it.

This is the sculpture the boy knocked over. It is called Aphrodite Di Kansas City and is made of glass and pieces of mirror. The artist says the top of it was damaged when he pulled it over

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.

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.'

Stunned: The boy's mother, Shannon Goodman, said she was shocked by the value of the artwork

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.'