A good bit of its neck, too.

"We're very sad," said museum vice president Julie Ketner Rigby.

According to the museum, the dinosaur statue was probably vandalized Sunday night. Part of the neck was found on the ground nearby, but the head remains missing.

"An act like this is just heinous," said Mike Shiflett, a resident of the nearby Northgate Park neighborhood.

Northgate Park and the museum had discussed conserving the 77-foot-long statue, but deferred any action until the museum's new Dinosaur Trail is finished later this year.

The brontosaurus has stood in the woods beside Ellerbe Creek in the museum's old section south of Murray Avenue since 1967. Constructed as part of a "Pre-History Trail" closed after Hurricane Fran, the dinosaur had become scientifically obsolete -- the name "brontosaurus" isn't even used any more; it's now "apatosaurus" -- but remained a fondly regarded landmark.

Shiflett has offered a $100 reward for recovery of the missing pieces, and other neighbors have been discussing repair since word hit the neighborhood e-mail list Monday morning.

Although museum officials say they cannot replace the history and emotional connection many have to the Old Dinosaur Trail, they are encouraging people to post their images of the trail at www.flickr.com/groups/847625@N22/