The Georgia Guidestones, a granite monument that has been at the center of right-wing conspiracies for decades, was partially destroyed in a bombing Wednesday morning.
The monument is made up of five massive concrete slabs with a capstone and is located in the city of Elberton, Georgia. It’s covered in messages written in eight languages that reflect a belief in population control, internationalism, respect for nature, and the rule of reason over faith. “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature,” is one message on the Guidestones.
Videos by VICE
The bombing was first reported by local news which quoted authorities and did a fly-over of the site, confirming it had been partially destroyed. When Motherboard called the Elbert County sheriff’s department, a woman who answered the phone said she had been in the office since 8 a.m. and that no one at the department had come to the office because they were all busy presumably working at the scene of the explosion. She said that any emails to officers would likely not be returned because they were busy at the explosion site.
“Nobody has been here all day,” she said. “They probably will not check email because they’re all out there working on the scene.”
Motherboard reached several people at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, but none were able to give a comment. A voicemail inbox for the bureau’s public information department was full. On Facebook, the GBI said that it and local police are investigating the scene.
“The GBI and Elbert County Sheriff’s Office are investigating an explosion that destroyed the Georgia Guidestones near Elberton, GA,” they wrote. “The preliminary information indicates that unknown individuals detonated an explosive device at around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6th. Elbert County Sheriff’s Office personnel responded to discover the explosion destroyed a large portion of the structure. The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to assist with the investigation. GBI EOD are on scene conducting their examination of the site.”
The Facebook post is seeking anonymous tips for more information about who may have destroyed the Guidestones. This isn’t the first time the stones have been vandalized. In 2008, someone spray painted the stones with phrases about Jesus and the New World Order.
The demolition of the Guidestones was celebrated by some on the right, who have made it their long-time mission to see the monument removed, theorizing that it represents Satanic influence. “God is God all by Himself. He can do ANYTHING He wants to do. That includes striking down Satanic Guidestones,” tweeted Kandiss Taylor, a Republican candidate for Governor in Georgia, who recently made demolishing the Guidestones an election issue.
“I am the ONLY candidate bold enough to stand up to the Luciferian Cabal,” Taylor said in a May tweet. “Elect me Governor of Georgia, and I will bring the Satanic Regime to its knees—and DEMOLISH the Georgia Guidestones.”
No one knows for sure who commissioned the Guidestones. According to Wired, in 1979, a man who called himself Robert C. Christian walked into the offices of Elberton Granite Fishing, claimed he represented a “small group of loyal Americans,” and said that he wanted to build a large granite monument in what he believed was the granite capital of the world.
Christian told the company president that he’d pay for the rock slabs and to have them cut. He described a structure that would be a compass, clock, and calendar. It was meant to serve as a guide for future generations. The president quoted Christian a price several times higher than what the project would actually cost. To his shock, Christian accepted.
Christian also explained that Robert C. Christian was a pseudonym and that the wealthy group commissioning the stones wished to remain anonymous forever.
On its website, the City of Elberton lists the Guidestones among its “Historic Sites” for tourists to visit: “The Georgia Guidestones is probably the most unusual monument ever produced in the Elberton area,” the city’s chamber of commerce wrote on a page it created for the Guidestones. “Not only is its massive size larger than any single other monument of record manufactured here, the circumstances surrounding its origin, completion, and erection have undoubtedly caused more speculation and comment than any of the other millions of granite memorials produced in Elberton since the area’s famed Granite Industry started.”
