Authorities said a woman entered the Amherst County Courthouse on Thursday morning with a tiny monkey tucked into her bra, dressed in diapers and a pink and white dress.

The unusual event occurred when the woman arrived for a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations court.

Officials said they had no idea the woman had the monkey until the she went into an office for a routine procedure to fill out court-related paperwork.

When the woman referred to a daughter, a puzzled official asked where the daughter was and the woman pulled the monkey out of her bra.

Officials confirmed the incident, from the commonwealth’s attorney, Stephanie Maddox, to deputies who were working in the courthouse. They did not identify the woman.

“You couldn’t make up something like this,” Maddox said.

But it was no big deal, the woman said later, because her tiny marmoset turns seven weeks old today and is, in the parlance of monkeys, an infant who needs constant attention.

“I can’t understand why the deputy didn’t see her — she was peeking out” from the cleavage of her blouse, she said.

The woman contacted The News & Advance late Thursday afternoon after seeing a story about the monkey online. She wanted to explain why she took the creature, named Cara, into the courthouse. The woman’s identity is being withheld for family reasons.

Showing off the little marmoset monkey at her Amherst County home, she referred to Cara as  “her daughter” and said she had found her on eBay. She went to Lexington to buy it and has the animal’s clothes –– diapers and dresses — specially made in West Virginia.

 “We call our cats and dogs babies all the time,” said the woman, who is disabled and cares not only for her new baby, but also for three Chihuahuas, a Pomeranian, a crocodile gecko and a garter snake.

“She despises rap music –– it tickles me, she likes the oldies,” she said, feeding Cara marmoset formula.

Cara is only inches tall; she eventually will grow to a foot tall and weigh a pound.

“When you first get them, they’re just like a preemie,” she said. “She’s just like a baby, she’s starting to teethe. I mean, caring for them is just like caring for a human.”

Her new mom picked her up last month. Marmosets cost anywhere from $1,800 to $2,600, she said.

“They’re not a cheap pet.”

Cara caused quite a sensation in the courthouse when she moved her tiny head around and began gnawing on her dress.

One official asked why she had the monkey in her bra and quoted the woman as saying, “Well, would you leave your child at home? She has to be close to me.”

The woman was not asked to leave the courthouse and deputies there did not say whether there was anything unlawful about the animal in the building.

Asked who let the monkey through the metal detector, deputies quipped: “It wasn’t armed.”