Eerie photographs reveal crumbling remains of attraction showcasing 18-foot heads of the first 43 US presidents (12 Pics)

he crumbling busts of 43 past US presidents lie abandoned in an overgrown field.

The eerie site in Croaker, Virginia, is all that remains of the failed Presidents' Park , which opened in nearby Williamsburg in 2004 at a cost of $10million but closed due to lack of visitors six years later, the Smithsonian Magazine reports.

Now the heads — which are between 18 and 20 foot tall and weigh up to nine tonnes — sit in three neat rows on Howard Hankins’ farm.

George Washington stands to the side overlooking the group.

Mr Hankins helped build the park, which was inspired by South Dakota's Mount Rushmore and is one of three similar venture's in the US.

But when the owner Everette Newman asked him to destroy the heads so the land could be auctioned off he couldn't as it didn't feel right.

Instead Mr Hankins decided to move them to his 400-acre farm at a cost of $50,000.

The process involved ripping the giant structures out of the ground using a crane.

Holes were drilled in their heads to allow for this to happen and the majority were seriously damaged.

The bust of Abraham Lincoln has a massive hole in the back of its head, while Ronald Reagan was scarred during a lightning strike.

The park wasn't the only one to fail, with the Presidents' Park in Lead, South Dakota, closing in 2003 and the busts now litter the hillside serving as homes for the area's wild turkerys.

A third site in Houston, Texas, is visible through a chain link fence.

Despite the bust being off limits due to Mr Hankins not having a tourist attraction licence several explorers have managed to reach them.

But Mr Hankins says the heads may soon have a new home. He is in talks with local governments to find a new site and hopes to reopen the museum with a visitor centre, recreation of the Oval Office, Air Force One fuselage, secret service museum, presidential and first lady memorabilia and a Wounded Warriors room.

He said:“One boy came out to see the heads, then he sent me a picture he drew of the presidents. It just tugs at your heart to look at it.”