NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A New York millionaire destroyed a 3,000-year-old beach dune in East Hampton, N.Y. without official permission, an official in the town alleges.
Larry Penny, East Hampton natural-resources director, said Baron Capitol Management founder Ron Baron allegedly never received permission from area officials to destroy the ancient beach dune and a patch of protected vegetation, the New York Post said Monday.
"The dune was there, and now it isn't," Penny said. "Those are ancient, 3,000-year-old dunes, just carted away. This is part of our history here. It's a serious violation."
The dune was located near Baron's 40-acre East Hampton property that he purchased for $103 million last May.
The real estate purchase marked the largest payment for residential property in the nation's history, the Post said.
East Hampton building-department head Don Sharkey told the newspaper that Baron used a private environmentalist in lieu of a public official to inspect the historic dune prior to its destruction.
"That's not how it's done," Sharkey said. "We're trying to figure out now what exactly happened there."
