The 175-ton 'Spaceship Earth' lay in ruins at Kennesaw State University after mysteriously falling to pieces last week.

The engraved phrase 'our fragile craft' was still visible in the debris.

"Kind of ironic," said Mary-Elizabeth Watson, a university employee. "I had no idea it was made up of so many pieces."

"How can stone collapse by itself?" said the piece's sculptor Eino. "I'm devastated."

The work was planned originally for San Francisco, which then turned it down. The University of California at Berkeley also rejected it. Kennesaw went on to take it on after a university official met Eino and became interested in his work.

Finnish-born Eino vowed to restore the sculpture to its former glory, with structural modifications. Rebuilding will start as early as next month, he said.

"I want to rebuild it and build it stronger than ever," Eino said.