An asteroid didn’t wipe out these dinosaurs.
Vandals are responsible for an extinction event at a New Jersey Jurassic Park, where mammoth sculptures of dinosaurs were destroyed two weeks ago.
The heartbroken artist, Robin Ruggiero, 54, used dead wood, loose branches, vines, bark and animal bones to construct seven sculptures in the woods of Allaire State Park, including a mama, papa and baby pteranodon, stegosaurus and T-rex.
“Whatever their intentions were, they affected a whole community of people,” a crestfallen Ruggiero told The Post, noting the destruction left kids in tears, wrecked wedding and engagement photo shoots, and grounded high school field trips.
“I hope that person heals from whatever ails them,” she said.
Ruggiero said the display was intact on Oct. 6, but the next morning she was alerted to the mindless vandalism.
“When I got there, they were sliced super clean,” Ruggiero continued. “The lines that suspend them were cut. I felt like I was attacked,” she said.
Most of the sculptures were wrecked; strangely, the mother and baby pteranodon were unharmed.
“I had a feeling they [the vandals] got interrupted. It just seemed odd that they didn’t finish the job,” Ruggiero speculated.
Ruggiero created her first dino — the T-rex — on Dec. 26, 2019. The dino-village was an outgrowth of her being in a bad place at the time, she said, having suffered a head injury in a car accident and being in an abusive relationship.
”I had come on hard times and didn’t have any money, so I started thinking to myself, ‘What made me happy?”‘
The community has reached out to support her in the aftermath of the attack, and the Brick, N.J. artist, has been feeling the love on her Instagram page.
“I would love to show my gratitude and bring them back to life. Hopefully, maybe one day I will heal enough to do so,” she said.
