ELBERT COUNTY, Ga. — The Elbert County Commission signaled this week that the county undertaking a rebuild of the Georgia Guidestones - destroyed in an explosion last month - is unlikely.
The commission voted to donate the remaining fragments of the Guidestones to the Elberton Granite Association, which runs a granite museum.
According to County Administrator Phil Pitts, it is "possible those fragments might be added to the existing items" at the museum.
Additionally, the Athens Banner-Herald reported the county has begun to explore the legal process of returning the land on which the Guidestones sat back to the original owner. The land had been owned by the county since the construction of the Guidestones, a gift from the individual who bought the land and pursued the building of the Guidestones, R. C. Christian.
Pitts, in an email to 11Alive, said no official vote on rebuilding the Guidestones had been taken by the commission this week, and that it did not have a formal position on their being rebuilt.
However, "based on my communications with (the commissioners) individually, there is/was zero interest in the ECBOC (Elbert County Board of Commissioners) as an elected body taking a role in rebuilding the Guidestones," he said.
Whether someone else might rebuild the Guidestones remains an open question.
"As to each commissioner as an individual, I don’t know how they stand on the EGA (Elberton Granite Association), a foundation, or any other entity taking on the job of rebuilding the Guidestones," Pitts said.
The Elberton Granite Association previously told 11Alive they would likely be in charge of rebuilding the monument if such task were approved by the county.
To date, the state and local investigation into the July 6 explosion that destroyed the Guidestones has not turned up a suspect. District Attorney Parks White said last month whoever brought the Guidestones down could face up to 20 years in prison.
The Georgia Guidestones were inscribed with ten guiding principles, each etched in stone using languages from around the world. The 19-foot slabs towering near the South Carolina state line became a Peach State landmark and took on the nickname of "America's Stonehenge."
The Georgie Bureau of Investigation has said video showed an "unknown person leaving an explosive device" near the Guidestones.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 283-2421 or the GBI Athens Office at (706) 552-2309.