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| Vandals damage ancient dinosaur footprint in Australia | Vandals damage ancient dinosaur footprint in Australia |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Vandals have partially destroyed a 115-million-year-old dinosaur footprint in a national park in Australia. | Vandals have partially destroyed a 115-million-year-old dinosaur footprint in a national park in Australia. |
| Palaeontologists first discovered the imprint of the theropod dinosaur in a tidal rock platform in Flat Rocks, Victoria in 2006. | Palaeontologists first discovered the imprint of the theropod dinosaur in a tidal rock platform in Flat Rocks, Victoria in 2006. |
| The area is a famous dinosaur fossil area where thousands of fossil bones and teeth have been found. | |
| Authorities believe the vandals used a hammer to chip away at the three-toed mark which is about 30cm-wide. | Authorities believe the vandals used a hammer to chip away at the three-toed mark which is about 30cm-wide. |
| "It looked like somebody had taken to it with either a hammer or a rock, and had broken off sections of the toes," Parks Victoria ranger Brian Martin told the BBC. | "It looked like somebody had taken to it with either a hammer or a rock, and had broken off sections of the toes," Parks Victoria ranger Brian Martin told the BBC. |
| They left the "freshly broken" pieces scattered around the rock platform, he said. | They left the "freshly broken" pieces scattered around the rock platform, he said. |
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| An official leading a school group to the area last week discovered the damage. | An official leading a school group to the area last week discovered the damage. |
| Mr Martin said the perpetrators deliberately targeted the imprint, which had been left uncovered for public enjoyment. | Mr Martin said the perpetrators deliberately targeted the imprint, which had been left uncovered for public enjoyment. |
| "They would need to know exactly where it is to find it, many people quite easily walk right past it," he said. | "They would need to know exactly where it is to find it, many people quite easily walk right past it," he said. |
| State authorities said they were disheartened by the damage. | State authorities said they were disheartened by the damage. |
| "The significance of the footprint is that it represents a moment frozen in time when a meat-eating dinosaur stood on that spot and left an impression of its foot," Parks Victoria said on Wednesday. | "The significance of the footprint is that it represents a moment frozen in time when a meat-eating dinosaur stood on that spot and left an impression of its foot," Parks Victoria said on Wednesday. |