Vandals smash duck-billed dinosaur fossil to pieces in Alberta.

GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. - Paleontologists were thrilled when they found the fossilized remains of a duck-billed dinosaur in northwestern Alberta last month.

But joy turned quickly to despair when they returned to the site near the Red Willow River a few days ago and found that vandals had smashed the Hadrosaur skeleton to pieces.

The Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative says the fossil was discovered by paleontologist Phil Bell and a University of Alberta team on June 15.

They partially prepared it for removal, then reburied it for protection until it could be fully removed later this month.

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WOAH, not cool. I hope they find the people who did this, because this is a very serious manner. I feel for the palaeontologists and other workers who spent all their time beginning the long process to recover these fossils. Digging out bones and sometimes having to leave them for up to a whole year is excruciating because of this fact. You never want to put yourself in this position, but a lot of the time it’s out of their hands. All you can do is hope no one else knows of the remains and that you did a good job of camouflaging the fossils until you can get back out in the field.

This really is beyond upsetting. Fossils are extremely important for our understanding of past ecosystems, and every bone is precious; each one unique. Not to mention this skeleton was going to be an exhibit at a new museum. Tons of people - children to professionals - could have benefited greatly from this find.