ELBERTON, Ga. — A controversial rural Georgia monument dubbed by some as “America’s Stonehenge” was bombed and ultimately demolished after an explosion damaged one of the four granite panels early Wednesday morning.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, preliminary information indicates that unknown individuals detonated an explosive device at the Georgia Guidestones at around 4 a.m. on July 6. Elbert County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and reported that the explosion destroyed a large portion of the structure.
The GBI released surveillance footage on Wednesday evening that depicts the initial explosion that led to the destruction of the guidestones. A car can be seen leaving the scene shortly after the explosion in the footage.
No one was injured in the explosion, the GBI said, but the Georgia Guidestones were completely demolished “for safety reasons,” according to the agency.
The roadside attraction was constructed in 1980 by an unknown individual or group who used the name R.C. Christian. The granite panels are 19-foot-high and bear a 10-part message in eight different languages with guidance for living in an “age of reason.”
The Georgia Guidestones were no stranger to conspiracy theories and criticism. One part of the stones messages calls for keeping the world population at 500 million or below, while another part calls to “guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.”
Recently, during Georgia’s May gubernatorial primary, third-place Republican candidate Kandiss Taylor claimed the guidestones were satanic and part of a “Luciferian Cabal” and made demolishing them part of her platform.
Taylor took to Twitter after the explosion giving credit to God for “striking down the Satanic Guidestones.”
The monument had been vandalized in the past.
