A deer hunt will take place in Liberty State Park starting Monday night and lasting at least through the week.

It's the first deer cull at New Jersey’s most-visited state park, and many activists and visitors say they were caught off guard.

Jose Mendez brought his family along for their first visit to Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

“It’s beautiful how it is. I don’t think they need to kill deer to do whatever they’re doing,” said Mendez.

Deer are frequently seen along nature paths around the marsh.

A New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson says all this week after hours, crews will humanely cull a herd of deer in a 200-acre contaminated section of the park, off limit to visitors.

The culling will remain in that fenced area across from the nature center parking lot.

The DEP cleared trees and brush after the harsh winter and says the cull is needed because the food supply was taken down. Plans call for the contaminated land to be transformed into recreation areas, open meadows, wetlands, and new forests.

Jessica Towery, of Bayonne, says the DEP did a horrible job getting the word out.

“People are witnessing these deer with no place to go, no food to eat and no consideration to move toward a certain area in the park,” she said. “It’s just unfortunate that the public was not made more aware of this event and what they’re trying to do here.”

The DEP spokesperson said deer cannot be relocated due to stress and did not know how many deer would be killed but that USDA wildlife specialists will be using suppressed rifles designed to minimize noise impacts.

“Nobody should kill animals because they are part of our biodiversity,” said Shahariar Khan, of Jersey City.

The group Friends of Liberty State Park sent News 12 a statement that reads in part “The DEP should've had a public information meeting to explain their reasons, answer questions and hear people's thoughts.”