It's no mystery why the paranormal television show "Fringe" will be disappearing from New York.

The popular Fox hit series, which originally relocated to New York from Toronto, is heading back to Canada, this time to Vancouver. "Fringe" had moved to Long Island City's Silvercup Studios to take advantage of New York's popular film and television tax incentives, but the state program has run out of money, Variety is reporting.

The $515 million set aside to expand tax breaks and extend the program to 2013 was gone by the beginning of 2009 and there are currently no plans to reinvest, the industry trade reported.

"'Fringe''s move to Vancouver is disappointing, but New York City - the only city in the United States with a film tax credit - remains a highly attractive place to film," said Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting in a statement to the News. 

New York City's film tax credit remains in effect, but the state's credit has become a casualty of the economic downturn. Cost concerns led Warner Bros. to choose Canada, where "the exchange rate has gotten better," Silvercup president Stuart Suna told Variety.

"In this challenging and uncertain economic environment, we have made the very difficult decision to move the production of 'Fringe’ from New York to Canada in the event the series is renewed for a second season," a spokesperson for Warner Brothers Television, the studio that produces the program, said in a statement.

"We did not come to this conclusion easily, but economic and practical imperatives dictated that this decision be made in a timely manner. We are deeply indebted to the talented New York production crew that helped bring the first season of 'Fringe' to life, and we thank them for their invaluable contributions to the show’s success."

The J.J. Abram created hit, which follows an FBI agent strange phenomenon along with an excentric scientist and his son, has been ranked No. 1 in the ratings among new shows in the key demographic of 18-to-49 year-olds.

The New York Production Alliance is organizing letter-writing and protest campaigns in hopes of raising awareness about the potential losses.

"I think the chances (of seeing the credit replenished) are very good, because the data is good," said NYPA head John Johnston told Variety. "If we were talking about something that hasn't been tried out or something that hadn't been implemented in other states, it would be a different case."

Last week, California and another Canadian city, Ottawa, joined the competition by approving their own tax credit programs for film and television shows.

[via NY Daily News]