Georgia authorities probing Georgia Guidestones vandalism (UPDATE-1)

The Georgia Guidestones near Elberton, Ga., have intrigued and confounded visitors since they first appeared in 1980. (Photo by Todd DeFeo)

Georgia authorities are investigating reports that someone destroyed part of the Georgia Guidestones in Elbert County, Georgia.

Photos from the scene show a portion of the monument has been reduced to rubble. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating a possible explosion at the site.

According to lore, in June 1979, a man using the pseudonym Robert C. Christian walked into the office of Joe H. Fendley Sr., the Elberton Granite Finishing Company president. Christian commissioned the structure on behalf of “a small group of loyal Americans.”

Elberton is known as the “Granite Capital of the World.”

The man’s true identity was known by some key locals but has not been divulged to the broader public.

Since then, the Georgia Guidestones, located along Georgia Highway 77, has been the subject of various conspiracy theories. Vandals have targeted the monument, often called “America’s Stonehenge,” over the years.

The 19-foot-tall monument featuring ten guidelines was unveiled in March 1980. It includes a series of messages for future generations written in several languages:

  1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
  2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
  3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
  4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
  5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
  6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
  7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
  8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
  9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
  10. Be not a cancer on the Earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.
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Sightseers’ Delight started publishing in June 2016. The site, published by The DeFeo Groupe, collects and curates content about places where historical events large and small happened. The site builds off the legacy of The Travel Trolley, which launched in June 2009. The site aimed to be a virtual version of the trolley tours offered in so many cities.