From the Telegraph: Facebook campaign launched to save vandalised dinosaur
The 20ft tall T-Rex lurks in a field overlooking the motorway near Bridgwater, Somerset, but he's been targetted by vandals and he's been knocked flat - he's had a leg ripped off and he's lying on his side in the grass.
Today his owner has vowed to get him up and roaring again.
Benjamin Slade said he would â not surrenderâ to the vandals who wrecked the £7,000 sculpture.
His announcement comes days after a 'Save the M5 Dinosaur'Facebook group was set up to get the monster back on his feet.
Mr Slade, who owns a large country house near Bridgwater, said "We have got to get a new monster. I'm going to get one specially made, with sharper teeth."
The dinosaur is not far from another iconic landmark for motorway travellers - the Wicker Man, a giant figure of a running man made of wicker, who was also damaged by vandals who set him on fire a year or two back.
Parents grinding out the thankless journey down the M5 to their holiday destination in Devon or Cornwall are always pleased to see the dinosaur and the Wicker Man, which are useful distractions for bored "Are we there yet?" children in the back seat.
The campaign to save the dinosaur has even seen a Facebook page set up, and it's already got more than 300 supporters.
One of them, signing in on Facebook as Karly Minky Rayner, write "I am so upset by the ruination of the poor M5 dino. He has made me smile since I was a tiny kid. I love how there was something so ridiculously eccentric on such a drab unappealing road. I would deffo put in some voluntary time to save the beast even though I now live in London. I'm pretty damned good at papier mache!"
The campaign to save the monster, near junction 24, was launched by Philip Tyrannosaurus Rex Cooke who wants people to help him get the "landmark of Somerset" back on its feet.
He wrote "We need to restore poor old T-Rex to full health to bring pleasure back to people using the M5. I want to get as many members as possible to lend their support to getting T-Rex back."
Alexander Belassie, of North Petherton, Somerset, said he frequently drives past the dinosaur and confessed "it used to cheer me up while I travelled to work".
The monster has even got a new online nickname - Facebook campaigners are calling him Fluffy Rexford.
Even local residents have been upset by the attack...someone calling himself Milkeymike wrote on the Bridgwater Mercury's website "Just goes to show what to million years of evolution has spawned."
North Newton resident Alison Bradford said her four-year-old son Harrison had been upset by the attack.
She said "He used to wave at Rex every morning, and now he's asking what's happened and why."
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