Georgia’s mysterious stones sustained significant damage after residents reported hearing a loud explosion near their site.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told reporters that initial information indicated that someone had used an explosive device to destroy the poles.
Keep up with the latest in the investigation The Independent live blog.
The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office is working with the GBI to investigate the attack on the building.
The guidebooks—sometimes called American Stonehenge, although constructed in 1980—consist of six granite slabs, with inscriptions engraved in eight different languages across the slabs.
The inscriptions contain guidelines – and therefore guidelines – for following human progress.
These recommendations include items such as “Keep humanity under 500 meters in permanent balance with nature” and “Unite humanity in a new, living language.”
Residents who live near the statue said they felt and heard an explosion near the site of the stones around 4 a.m.
The guidebooks opened in 1980 and were commissioned by a “small group of loyal Americans” through a man who used a pseudonym.
The owners of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company, which was commissioned to build the panels, claimed that the memorial was to serve as a compass, calendar, and clock that could withstand catastrophic events.
The company claims that it tried to dissuade the man from pursuing the project by offering an inflated price for the project, but was surprised to find the individual before the offer.
