Christian Group Seeks Removal Of Dinosaur From Tucson McDonald's

TUCSON, AZ — A Tucson landmark won't be going extinct anytime soon. Attempts to remove a fiberglass dinosaur statue outside of a McDonald's have been thwarted.

A group called Christians Against Dinosaurs denounced the T. rex statue on its Facebook page and called for its followers to rally in an effort to remove the statue.

“Please help! This McDonald’s has this dinosaur and refuse to remove it!" according to the Arizona Daily Star. "This is in Tucson, Arizona. Call the manager and demand the removal of this blasphemy!”

The post has since been deleted, but it also included the contact information for the McDonald's franchisee, Dias Management Inc. The organization owns many McDonald's locations in the Tucson area.

The dinosaur has resided outside of the fast-food restaurant since it opened on Grant Road and Tanque Verde Road in 1994.

According to its Facebook page and website, Christians Against Dinosaurs seeks to reveal the truth about the "dinosaur lie," claiming that the creatures never existed. It says dinosaurs are a scam invented by scientists to thwart religion. Over 23,000 people have liked the page on Facebook.

Whether the group is sincere or satirical in its mission remains unclear, but the original Tucson poster insisted to the Arizona Daily Star that he was completely serious in his calls to remove the statue.

“Yes, the dinosaur should go unless they’re willing to compromise with a plaque of some kind stating that it’s a fictional character,” Josh Brown told the outlet.

When reached via Facebook, Christians Against Dinosaurs told Patch that the group's mission is no joke.

"We're fed up with everybody acting like the people of Tucson are imbeciles and we want to help," a spokesperson for the group said. "Having a big dinosaur outside a cultural hub like McDonald's makes Tucsonians look like they're mentally deficient and that isn't right."

The group also took issue with claims that its page is satirical, saying that they are not science-deniers. They just don't believe in dinosaurs.

"We simply recognise that dinosaurs are not supported by anything scientific," the group wrote. "They're a parlour game that got out of hand."

A spokesperson for Dias Management said the dinosaur isn't going anywhere anytime soon, calling it a Tucson landmark.