The Georgia Guidestones, a granite monument ambitiously described as “America’s Stonehenge,” was mysteriously blown up by an explosion at 4 am on the morning of Wednesday, July 6.

The GA Bureau of Investigation released surveillance footage (video below) of an explosion at the monument in Georgia's Elbert County and a silver car speeding away from the scene. Authorities said they then destroyed the remnants of the monument “for safety reasons.”

The agency said that “unknown individuals” detonated the device, and they’re not yet certain of the motive. However, the monument is known to have a fair number of enemies in recent years after being connected to a string of conspiracy theories.

Opened in 1980 (slightly after the construction of the original Stonehenge in England about 5,000 years ago), the Georgia Guidestones consist of four 5.87-meter (19 feet 3-inch) tall granite slabs that are astronomically aligned with another capstone laying on top. It’s inscribed with a 10-part message in 12 languages, including English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Russian Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Ancient Egyptian. 

Its inscriptions speak of the conservation of humankind, the value of truth, and the age of reason. However, it also features fairly dubious messages that resonate with some groups' fear of population control, including:

• Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
• Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
• Be not a cancer on the Earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

The Georgia Guidestones have attracted numerous conspiracy theories linking the stone slabs to Satanism, the New World Order, and – for some reason – Barack Obama. Far-right agitators and hardcore Christian groups have labeled it as the “Ten Commandments of the Antichrist” or part of "a Luciferian secret society" at the forefront of the New World Order.

Ever the magnet for wild interpretations, it’s been the subject of vandalism before. In 2009, it was scrawled with graffiti saying "Death to the new world order." The year before it was spray-painted with slogans such as “Obama iz a Muslim” and “Jesus will prevail.” 

Along with its inscriptions, many are suspicious of the slabs since no one is certain who sponsored its construction or placed them in Georgia.

Last year, Kandiss Taylor, a Republican candidate for governor in Georgi, ran a campaign ad calling for the Georgia Guidestones to be destroyed. Upon hearing the recent news of the monument’s destruction, she tweeted: “God is God all by Himself. He can do ANYTHING He wants to do. That includes striking down Satanic Guidestones.”