$1,000 Reward Offered In Wall Dinosaur Vandalism

WALL, NJ — One township resident is so disturbed by the destruction of dinosaur art erected at Allaire State Park, he is offering a $1,000 reward for information about who may be responsible.

Ron Sage, a longtime Monmouth County attorney, is also a Wall resident. And he said he and his family and friends often took walks on trails in the park to see the art, created from available tree branches and vines.

His reward would be "money well spent if we could expose who does this kind of crap," Sage said.

He said the original art installations were beautiful objects that were part of the natural scene. They became known on visitor guides as a unique example of New Jersey creativity.

The local artist, Robin Ruggiero, has told a friend who spoke to the media for her, Gregory Andrus, that she is not planning to reconstruct them, according to a previous Patch article.

Sage said his reward offer has garnered 325 responses on a Wall Locals Facebook site and some people have offered to add to the reward, an indication of how residents have taken the destruction to heart.

But so far, it seems finding out who may have been responsible is not likely to happen.

Allaire is a 4,000-acre state park and is overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The department said in a statement last week that while it was "saddened" by the destruction, "there is no further information at this time about how the damage occurred. As this was a personal project conducted by a park visitor and not a Parks-commissioned amenity, the department is not in a position to pursue further enforcement actions."

According to a 2020 article on app.com the figures were created by Ruggiero, of Ocean County, as a "whim" that was both an artistic expression and a reflection of a personal journey.

There has been lots of support for her on Andrus' Portraits of the Jersey Shore Facebook site, mourning the loss of the fantastic figures included a triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus-rex.

But Andrus said he has also seen some "pushback" from commenters on his site, who say nature should be kept protected - even from art.

But the wanton destruction has struck a chord with many people, such as Sage.

"This is a big deal," he said.