An explosion has damaged part of the Georgia Guidestones, a controversial landmark often referred to as America’s Stonehenge.
Unidentified individuals detonated an explosive device around 4 a.m. Wednesday, and Elbert County investigators arrived to find much of the destroyed structure.
One of the pillars was obliterated to pieces, according to depictions of SKYFOX† A corner of an upper block also appeared broken near where the demolished block fell.
The guide stones, erected in 1980, consist of six granite slabs with an inscription engraved in eight different languages. The inscriptions are guidelines for human progress, including “unite humanity with a living new language” and “maintain humanity below 500 meters in perpetual balance with nature.”
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb squad responded to the explosion. The agency is investigating the incident, along with the county sheriff’s office.
According to Chris Kubas, Executive Vice President of the Elberton Granite Association, the cameras are working at all times and leading to an emergency center. They were initially placed due to vandalism.
“I’m sad, not just for Elberton and Elbert County, I’m sad for the United States and the world,” Kubas said. “This was a tourist attraction, and it was not uncommon for people from all over the world to be here at any given time.”
The guide stones were painstakingly crafted and cut, he added. The monument is 19 feet high and each slab weighs approximately 42,000 pounds.
“To dig out something of that magnitude and get those four so precise … with the sandblasting it took to sign those languages, that’s utter craftsmanship you wouldn’t find anywhere else,” said Kubas.
“They were intended for a future population after a catastrophic event.”
The monument has been subject to conservative conspiracy theories over the years.
Far-right conspiracy theorist Kandiss Taylor, who ran against incumbent Brian Kemp in the Republican gubernatorial primaries, campaigned on a pledge to destroy the leadstones. In a campaign video, she announced her “executive order 10” to demolish the monument.
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