TOPSFIELD — A 53-year-old Readfield man was pronounced dead at the scene Thursday afternoon after the car he was driving hit a moose in Topsfield.

Trooper Chuck Matthews of the Maine State Police said that Eugene Hardy was traveling south on Route 1 at about 2:30 p.m. in a 1989 Nissan Sentra when he apparently struck the moose.

Matthews said that at this time of year, moose were prevalent in the area where the accident occurred.

Although there were no witnesses to the accident, investigators believe that when Hardy’s car struck the moose, the animal was thrown onto the hood and roof of the car, breaking the windshield and crushing the roof.

The car was at the side of the road when investigators arrived.

Hardy was pronounced dead at the scene by medical examiner Dr. Albert Gulesian of Lincoln.

Matthews said that Gary Santerre of the Maine Forest Service was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene.

Assisting were Gary Allen of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Indian Township Police Department.