Katie McCarthy, a conspiracy theory researcher for the Anti-Defamation League, said in an interview with NPR that the anyonomity of the person or group who commissioned the Georgia Guidestones has also contributed to wild claims about the granite structure.

“That’s given the guidestones a sort of shroud of mystery around them, because the identity and intent of the individuals who commissioned them is unknown,” she said after the monument was damaged, and demolished.

“And so that has helped over the years to fuel a lot of speculation and conspiracy theories about the guidestones’ true intent.”

Built in 1980 by a person or group under the pseudonym R.C. Christian, the monument contain inscpritons about humanity, civilisation and other “lessons”. It also acts as a sundial and clock.

Georgia’s investigation bureau contines to seek any infromation on the destruction of the stones:

As well as being viewed as an “act of God”, the demolition of the roadside granite monument has also seen followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory point to their allegedly “satanic” nature.

One man, posting on Twitter, pointed out that the guidestones were “exactly 666.78 miles from the UN Headquarters in NYC” before adding “This is NOT a coincidence”.

Alex Jones, a more well known conspiracy theorist, meanwhile said seeing the stones destroyed made him happy on an “animal level,” although he ultimately disagreed with their destruction, as he believes they must stand as a reminder that the Illuminati is out there pulling strings.

“We need that evil edifice there as a confession letter led by a consortium of eugenicists,” he said.

Graig Graziosi has more:

Responding to reports of her criticism and claims about the Georgia Guidestones, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor said in a video on Wednesday that she wanted the monument to be demolished without any vandalism.

“I believe vandalism is illegal and sometimes, people like to call vandalism instead of actually giving God credit because they don’t know how to explain what happens when God moves,” Ms Taylor said.

She continued by saying that she still believed the damage to the stones – which she has labelled as “satanic” – was an ‘act of God’.

“So, until I see a video that shows me anything than what looked like lightning or the hand of God moving on a situation, I’m going to believe it was God.”

The Georgia Guidestones have now been demolished following the alleged explosion on Wednesday, which damaged part of the monument.

Authorities are still yet to identify suspects and have appealed for anybody with information to come forward.

Bevan Hurley has more:

The owners of Elberton Granite Finishing Company, which was commissioned to build the slabs, said an anonymous man approached them with a plan to build the monument in 1979.

That individual claimed the monument was meant to act as a compass, calendar and clock that could withstand catastrophic events.

The company claims it tried to discourage the man from pursuing the project by offering a comically inflated price for the project, but were surprised to find the individual accepted the quote.

In 1980, the monument was completed and suspicion about who was behind the structure has lasted ever since.

The attack was not the first time the Georgia Guidestones had been targetted.

In November 2008, the stones were attacked by vandals and spray-painted with tags including “Jesus will beat u satanist” and “No one-world government.”

In a segment on the Georgia Guidestones on HBO’s Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver discussed the claims aired by GOP gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor during her campaign.

The segment referred to claims about the person behind the monument and white supremacism.

Two months before the attack on the Georgia Guidestones, the monument became a focus of a local GOP gubernatorial hopeful, Kandiss Taylor.

Ms Taylor called for the demolition of the monument in a campaign video, while also echoing other conspiracy theories such as former president Donald Trump‘s 2020 election lie.

On Wednesday, she said the stones were “satanic” and welcomed their demoliton on an apparent ‘act of God’.

Here’s that tweet:

The Elbert Chamber of Commerce has said it was “saddened” by the apparent attack on the Georgia Guidestones, which was both a local landmark and a popular tourist spot.

“The Elbert County Chamber of Commerce was saddened to learn of the apparent intentional destruction of our most frequently visited community attraction, the Georgia Guidestones,” the group said.

“Over the years, the Guidestones have created lots of discussion and brought visitors to Elbert County from all over the world. Whatever your personal opinion on the Guidestones is, this attack is bad for our community. We hope that whomever is responsible is apprehended and brought to justice.”