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This is fowl.A barn-owl nest in Manhattan — a sight so rare that it was the first ever recorded in the borough outside Central Park — was ripped apart by heartless hardhats this week, enraging the local birding community and sparking a state probe.“I felt like someone stuck a knife in my gut and twisted it,” said Laura Lincks, a NYC Bird Alliance volunteer, to The Post on Friday.Construction workers first launched their assault on the nest while dismantling a water tower on a West 75th Street and Central Park West rooftop, exposing it and potentially putting the young bird family in danger, the Department of Environmental Conservation said.The move prompted immediate outcry, as the beloved owls had become local celebrities since moving into the water tower earlier this month.DEC police ordered the demolition to stop so that the agency could investigate potential violations, a rep said.It is illegal to destroy an active barn-owl nest, as the species is protected by state law.But crews then launched a second attack on the nest on the Upper West Side water tower Friday, just hours after being slapped with a stop order by state investigators in an effort to save the beloved family.The five fledglings and their parents survived the initial trauma and returned to the site, but experts said they worry the second attack could greatly impact their health.“The work that happened today definitely disturbed them even more,” said Jessica Wilson, executive director of the NYC Bird Alliance, who climbed the water tower alongside the EDC on Thursday to investigate.“These birds were vulnerable and sensitive to begin with.
… For the building to knowingly tear down this nest is shocking and a federal crime.”Lincks said the owls “were celebrities.“Are you living under a rock, or are you just being an asshole? I think the latter,” Lincks said of building management.The owls rose to local fame after moving into the water tower days ago — encouraging birders to...