'Field of Dreams' baseball field in Iowa damaged by vandal, facing costly repairs

An iconic baseball field in Iowa made famous in the movie "Field of Dreams" sustained thousands of dollars in damage after a vandal drove a vehicle onto the site earlier this week.

Al Steffen, the field manager for the site in Dyersville, told Fox News on Wednesday the damage was discovered early Tuesday as workers reported to work.

"It's never been this severe," Steffen said.

The field in eastern Iowa, created for the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner, has hit been by vandals before, but now ruts several inches deep are visible in the center and left field.

A combination of warmer weather and recent rainfall helped loosen the ground, allowing the vehicle's tires to sink deep into the soil.

"They picked a time when the field was very, very soft," Steffen said.

Steffen said he won't be able to determine how much damage the site suffered until sometime in the spring, when he starts to fill up the sprinkler system with water that was drained in the colder winter months.

"The way they did the donuts in center field, they could have done damage to the sprinkler system" he told Fox News.

The field did not have security cameras, so officials are not sure of the type of vehicle responsible for the damage or how many vandals there may have been. Steffen said he's been in contact with local police to investigate the incident.

Faced with the prospect of thousands of dollars in damage, Steffen said his team would still work to fix everything by Opening Day -- April 1. As long as the temperatures stay above freezing, he told Fox News he's going to do "everything I can do" to get the ruts out of the field.

The site has also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help fund those repairs and install a security system.

The iconic baseball site in Dyersville, located about 200 miles from Des Moines, draws over 100,000 visitors each season worldwide, many of whom run around the bases and visit the surrounding cornfields.