GARDINER — A nearly 300-pound Sinclair dinosaur was stolen from a Gardiner gas station Sunday evening and found the next day bolted to a cliff nearly 10 miles away in Yankee Jim Canyon near Yellowstone National Park.The dinosaur, which was visible from the road and first noticed by drivers, was recovered by employees and returned to the gas station with minimal damage on Monday. Click here to learn about the dinosaur’s travels:
‘Grand Theft Dino’: Sinclair dinosaur stolen from parking lot in prank in Gardiner
Sinclair employees and park visitors alike were amused by the prank and pictures. “I found it funny,” employee Jacque Sims said Tuesday afternoon. “To think that our dinosaur was sitting up in the canyon up there, it was funny. We were laughing all day.” Sims said it was clearly a planned theft, with the suspects choosing to capture the dinosaur located further from the building where no cameras could catch them in the act and coming with the right equipment to haul the figurine away. “They literally had to unbolt it from a cement pad out here, and they re-bolted it up on a cliff,” Sims said with a laugh. Sinclair management said it is not filing a police report. It remains unclear how or why the dinosaur was taken and who was involved. Sims said she’s been questioning customers. “We kept asking, ‘Hey you guys did that, didn’t you?’ And no one’s confessed yet,” Sims said. “It’s gotta be someone local here, and nobody is telling us who did it yet.” Park visitors like Wyatt Gilbertson and his family enjoyed the prank as well. “I just was shocked,” Gilbertson said. “I mean, I think it’s all in good fun. I don’t think the people mean to cause any harm.”Gilbertson said he was impressed with how much the suspects must have prepared. “Sounds pretty planned out. Missed the cameras, bolted back down,” Gilbertson said. “Grand Theft Dino.”It’s a theft that’s happened before in Montana. Last October, a Sinclair dinosaur was taken to the “M” overlooking Bozeman. In 2022, another was stolen in Billings multiple times before being vandalized. “It’s kind of a Montana thing by now,” Gilbertson said. “As long as they come back safe, I think it’s a fun little tradition.”As for now, this case remains a fun prank, and travelers will surely remember the time they witnessed a dinosaur near Yellowstone National Park.