By Tim Binnall
This past Thursday marked the one year anniversary of the shocking destruction of the Georgia Guidestones and authorities are still stumped as to who was responsible their untimely demise. Bankrolled by an anonymous individual back in 1980, the monument in the town of Elberton had attracted considerable controversy over the years due its mysterious origins and the ten 'guiding principles' written in eight different languages on its four massive granite slabs. Often attributed to some kind of New World Order agenda, in large part because it called for a population of "under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature," the Guidestones stood for 42 years until July 6th of last year when a blast rocked the community and spawned an all new mystery surrounding the monument.
In the hours that followed the incident, it was quickly determined that a nefarious individual had used some kind of explosive device to reduce one of the iconic pillars to rubble. Rendered structurally unsound due to the destroyed supporting stone, the entire monument was dismantled the following day, leaving behind a barren field and all manner of questions. The identity of the perpetrator remains unknown to this day, though footage released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shows an individual scrambling up to one of the pillars and planting a device before taking off in their car. In response to the one-year-anniversary of the incident this week, authorities have indicated that the case remains under investigation, though they appear to have no suspects at this time.
"They seem to have exhausted all their leads and have nothing," Elbert Commission Chair Lee Vaughn indicated to a local media outlet, "so at this point I think we're waiting on somebody to tell somebody something, and that's how it'll get found out at some point." He went on to lament that the destruction of the once-popular tourist attraction has understandably resulted in a significant decrease in visitors to the community. That said, the owner of the property which once hosted the Guidestones told a local TV station that "you will see people out here with a little shovel and paper bag and they're picking up some of the grit."
Following the explosive incident, there had been some consideration and debate in the community as to whether or not the monument should be rebuilt. However, neither the town itself nor the Elberton Granite Association, which received the remnants of the Guidestones last August, were interested in taking up the task. Similarly, one year later, the popular sentiment among people in the area is that they have moved on from the monument. To that end, an Elberton resident reportedly mused that "it's like over and done with," while another person observed that "it kinda died down. Nobody's talking about it much."
The scarcity of support within the community for a revival of the Guidestones suggests that it is unlikely that they will ever be reconstructed. Should such an improbable scenario somehow come to fruition, the monument would apparently have to find a new home as the property were it once stood has since been sold and a house is expected to be built on the land in the not too distant future. As such, it would seem that the story of the Georgia Guidestones, a quirky piece of Americana loved by some and loathed by others, has largely come to an end until and unless authorities solve the mystery of the monument's destruction.