The sandstone rock formation at Cape Kiwanda always looked like it was teetering on the edge of collapse, but this week it finally came down.

The formation at the Oregon coast park collapsed this week, though state park officials don't believe it was directly destroyed by people.

The collapsed sandstone pedestal at Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast.

The sandstone pedestal was popular among visitors, who often climbed it for pictures. It was located in a part of the park that is technically off-limits, after six people died on the nearby cliffs over the last two years.

"There's a good reason this area is fenced off," Chris Havel, spokesman for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, told the Statesman Journal. "It might look safe, but this is exactly what sandstone does: It gives out, often without warning."

Instagram users are remembering the pedestal with the hashtag #ripthepnwrock.

The formation was similar to one intentionally toppled by two former Boy Scout leaders in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park in 2014. A judge sentenced those men to a year of probation and more than $2,000 in fines.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB