A quirky monument erected near Elberton more than 40 years ago has been destroyed after it was damaged by an explosion.
A surveillance video released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shows an unknown car leaving the site of the Georgia Guidestones shortly after the explosion, which occurred at 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Personnel from the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office responding to the scene found a large part of the monument had been destroyed. The remaining portions then were destroyed for safety reasons.
The Georgia Guidestones monument was erected in 1980 eight miles north of Elberton on Georgia 77. It was 19 feet tall and contained six granite slabs.
Often referred to as an “American Stonehenge,” the Guidestones contained 10 guidelines in eight languages on how people should live in harmony with nature, value truth and balance personal rights with social duties.
The monument was commissioned in 1979 by a man using the pseudonym “Robert C. Christian” and dedicated the following year. He said he chose that name because of his Christian beliefs.
It became a tourist attraction in off-the-beaten-path Elbert County, drawing more than 20,000 visitors annually.
Despite the monument’s apparently Christian roots, a former gubernatorial candidate called the Guidestones “satanic” in a Twitter posting.
Republican Kandiss Taylor, who finished a distant third behind Gov. Brian Kemp and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the GOP primary in May, credited God for “striking down” the monument.
Anyone with information on the explosion is encouraged to contact the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 283-2421 or the GBI Athens Office at (706) 552-2309.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
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