A 19-foot-tall granite monument of murky provenance in rural northeastern Georgia suffered extensive damage early Wednesday morning via the denotation of an explosive device. Hours after the 4 a.m. explosion, what was left of the Georgia Guidestones was demolished by officials for public safety reasons. As of this writing, it is unknown who detonated the explosive that partially brought down the monument.

Over the course of the enigmatic work’s 42-year existence, it garnered more than a few comparisons to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, due to its monolithic form, inscrutable nature, and inevitable doomsday affiliations. Much like other monuments likened as stateside Stonehenges, the Georgia Guidestones served as an unfailingly popular attraction among curious tourists passing through sleepy Elbert County. Comprised of six massive, astronomically aligned granite slabs inscribed with 10 cryptic guidelines for “espousing the conservation of mankind” in 12 different languages (eight extant, four dead), the monument wasn’t just a hot tourist draw—it also attracted a fair share of conspiracy theorists, many of whom believed the structure to be satanic.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is currently investigating the bombing and has released a video of the incident.

(2/3) The videos show the explosion and a car leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. No one was injured. pic.twitter.com/8YNmEML9fW

— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) July 6, 2022

As detailed by Georgia’s state tourism website, the Guidestones were “mysterious in origin, for no one knows the identity of a group of sponsors who provided its specifications.” However, a single figure has long been associated with the monument. In 1979, a man using the pseudonym of Robert C. Christian commissioned the Elberton Granite Finishing Company on behalf of an anonymous group of “loyal Americans who believe in God” to create a structure that was similar in form to Stonehenge but also explicitly conveyed a (decidedly post-apocalyptic) message to “future generations.” Christian provided the company with a generous quoted fee for the project, which was completed the following year. Today, it sits on state-owned land.

As the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce further elaborated:

“Christian chose Elberton, Georgia, as the site for the Georgia Guidestones for several reasons. Elberton has a broad variety of granite, a mild climate, which will preserve the monument, and his great grandmother resided in Georgia. The specific site chosen was a 5-acre plot located 8 miles north of the city of Elberton on Highway 77, this was the farm of Mildred and Wayne Mullenix. This plot of land is the highest point in Elbert County and is in range of summer and winter sunrises and sunsets. Several engineers and astronomers were hired to investigate the positions, placement, and astrological markings of the monument.”

The Guidestones, which reportedly attracted upwards of 20,000 annual visitors, had been targeted by vandals over the decades, although most brandished cans of spray paint and not explosive devices. In recent years, the monument had become prime fodder for right-wing conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones. As reported by NBC News, Kandiss Taylor, a failed far-right Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, pledged to “turn the monument into dust” if she were to be elected. “I am the ONLY candidate bold enough to stand up to the Luciferian Cabal,” wrote Taylor in a pinned tweet. “Elect me Governor of Georgia, and I will bring the Satanic Regime to its knees— and DEMOLISH the Georgia Guidestones.

Taylor placed third in the May GOP governor primaries with under 4 percent of the vote.

Following the bombing, she claimed the destruction of the “Santanic Guidestones” to be an act of God.

“Until I see a video that shows me anything but what looked like lightning or the hand of God moving on a situation, I’m going to believe it was God,” she said in a video. “If it was vandalism, then there’s cameras everywhere.”

Taylor later condemned the act of vandalism and said she did not endorse criminal activity.

“It’s sad,” Christoper Kubas, a member of the Elberton Granite Association, told Atlanta-based ABC affiliate WSB-TV in an interview. “Not just for Elberton and Elbert County, but I’m sad for the United States and the world. These were tourists attractions, and it was not uncommon for people from around the world to be up here at any given time.”

AN will update this story if and when a non-deity responsible for detonating the bomb at the Georgia Guidestones is identified by authorities.