By Tim Binnall
A 'mystery monolith' that appeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend wound up causing such a stir that an angry mob actually swarmed the piece and destroyed it. The latest chapter in the strange global craze reportedly began on Sunday morning when residents of the capital city of Kinshasa discovered that one of the odd triangular objects had been placed in a roundabout overnight. As has been the case when such pieces have popped up in other locations throughout the world over the last few months, the 12-foot-tall metallic monolith became the proverbial talk of the town rather quickly.
While the object did inspire the usual amount of wonder among residents, who flocked to the piece to take pictures alongside it, the monolith also spawned a variety of rumors which suggested that it had some kind of nefarious origin. In addition to the unsurprising idea that it could have come from aliens, people were particularly uneasy about its shape. As one resident explained, "it is a triangle that we often see in documentaries about Freemasons or the Illuminati."
Misgivings about the monolith's potential connection to a sinister cabal reached a fever pitch on Wednesday when a group of people descended upon the piece and pelted it with stones. They subsequently tore it open in a frenzy and ultimately set it on fire. Although the monolith was almost certainly the work of a well-meaning prankster, mayor Babylon Gaibene indicated that the city plans to have the metal tested, possibly to quell any lingering fears that the piece was the product of extraterrestrials.