Dana, Ind. ? The Indiana farmhouse where World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle grew up has been demolished, shocking preservationists who had worked to keep Pyle’s legacy alive.

The home’s demolition in mid-August came after the owners had offered it to the Ernie Pyle museum in Dana, the state or anyone who would take it.

The hilltop farmhouse outside of Dana was where Pyle lived from roughly age 2 to 18.

Laura Minzes, a deputy director at the Department of Natural Resources, said money was the primary reason the state passed on the opportunity to acquire the farmhouse.

Pyle, who was killed by a Japanese sniper in April 1945, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944. Decades later, he was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart.