The famed Darwin's Arch in the Galapagos Islands has lost its top, and officials are blaming natural erosion of the stone.

Ecuador's Environment Ministry reported the collapse on its Facebook page on May 17.

The rock structure – 43 meters high, 70 meters long and 23 meters wide – is less than 1 kilometer from Darwin Island and it is a popular spot for scuba divers. It is not accessible by land.

"Obviously all the people from the Galapagos felt nostalgic because it's something we're familiar with since childhood, and to know that it has changed was a bit of a shock," said Washington Tapia, director of conservation at Galapagos Conservancy. "However, from a scientific point of view, it's part of the natural process. The fall is surely due to exogenous processes such as weathering and erosion which are things that normally happen on our planet."

The unique flora and fauna on remote islands, some 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador's mainland are famed in part for inspiring Charles Darwin's thoughts on evolution.

(Cover image via AP.)

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