The Old Man of the Mountain, the natural stone profile that appears on everything in New Hampshire from the road signs to the state quarter, fell from its mountainside, leaving nothing recognizable in the cliff face Saturday.

Don Bliss, the state's director of emergency management, said there were no injuries when the stone fell sometime Friday night or Saturday.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fall, but Amy Bahr, president of the Franconia Heritage Museum, said she has long been aware that the natural profile could slide.

"I knew it would go sometime, I just didn't think it would happen in my lifetime," she said.

SFGate May 3, 2003