An Easter egg hunt hosted annually by PEZ Candy USA was canceled abruptly after parents rushed the field early and caused a “mess,” the company said.

Chaos erupted shortly after the Saturday hunt began when some parents ignored the planned three start times for different age groups, NBC Connecticut reports. The event featured 1,000 participants and 10,000 eggs scattered over three fields, the news station said.

“Unfortunately people chose to enter the first field prior to anyone from PEZ staff starting the activity. The crowd moved to the second field, waited for only a couple of minutes and proceeded to rush the field without being directed to do so and before the posted start time,” PEZ said in the statement. “Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a mess. I would like to sincerely apologize to each of our guests, this was not something created to frustrate or make people angry,” the company added.

Some of the participants told NBC that several parents were shoving each other. Vincent Welch, a 4-year-old boy, said someone snatched his eggs. “Somebody pushed me over and take my eggs and it’s very rude of them and they broke my bucket,” he said.

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