New Video: Person Seen Leaving Device At Georgia Guidestones Before Explosion

ELBERTON, GA — Additional video surveillance of the recent explosion that damaged the Georgia Guidestones monument — also known as "America's Stonehenge" — shows what authorities say is a person leaving an explosive device at the site.

The new surveillance videos were released by The Georgia Bureau of Investigation late Thursday. In the video, a person approaches the now-demolished monument. They briefly disappear behind the structure and then are seen running away. The video is unclear but a zoomed in photo of the footage shows the person carrying something.

The GBI are trying to identify the person seen in the video.

The Georgia landmark is located near Highway 7 and the South Carolina state line in Elbert County. The explosion took place around 4 a.m. Wednesday, according to investigators. A silver sedan was also seen driving away from the scene. Investigators said the monument was later demolished after one of the five vertical slabs was destroyed, which weakened the structure.

The monument that some conservative Christians criticized as satanic was built in 1980 from local granite, commissioned by an unknown person or group under the pseudonym R.C. Christian.

The 16-foot-high (5-meter-high) monument includes eight different languages with guidance for living in an “age of reason.” One part called for keeping world population at 500 million or below, while another calls to “guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.”

It also serves as an astronomical calendar.

Parks White, the District Attorney of the Northern Judicial Circuit, told NBC News that the explosion was an “act of domestic terrorism.”

The targeting of the historical and controversial monument was aimed at Elbert County authorities, Parks said.

“The destruction of a public building by explosive is inherently intended to influence the actions of the governing authority that owns the structure,” she told the news outlet.

The person responsible will face a minimum of 20 years in prison because destroying a public, historical landmark is a criminal act, Parks told WSB-TV.

Investigators said they are still actively working to identify the person leaving the scene after the explosion.

Anyone with information can contact the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 283-2421 or the GBI Athens Office at (706) 552-2309. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477) or going online.