There were paper placemats set at booths and stacks of menus on a counter, but no customers to be found at the Metro Diner in Brooklawn Tuesday morning.

Letters arranged on the road-side sign read: "We are closed. Thank you for your support," marking the only public announcement of the diner's sudden closure.

The diner, which opened at the corner of Route 130 and West Browning Lane in 1949, was slated for demolition last summer, expected to make way for a new Wawa.

For decades, it was owned by the family that operates Ponzio's Diner in Cherry Hill. New management purchased it and took over in 2009.

But it hadn't become clear until Monday just when the diner would close up shop. A sign posted to the front door read: "We're closing at 3:00. Thank you."

A woman in the diner said the restaurant had closed Monday, but said no owners were on-site to speak. Pastries were scattered in a half-full case, but artwork of cityscapes had already been pulled from the wall and set on the ground.

Wawa has been rapidly expanding in the area, and plans to open 50 new stores a year from New Jersey to Florida, adding to the convenience company's 800 store chain. Some of the new stores are expanded and improved "super Wawas," with extra square footage, parking and gas pumps to replace the older compact locations.

A message left for the diner's owner was not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips