of the project was not revealed, but it was over US$100,000 (). Christian delivered a scale model of the guidestones and ten pages of specifications. The site was purchased by Christian from a local farm owner. The owner and his children were given lifetime cattle grazing rights on the guidestones site. The monument was located off of Georgia State Route 77 around north of the city of Elberton. On March 22, 1980, the monument was unveiled by congressman Doug Barnard before an audience of between 200 and 300 people. At the unveiling, the Master of Ceremonies read a message to the gathered audience: Christian later transferred ownership of the land and the guidestones to Elbert County. By 1981, barbed wire fencing had to be erected around the monument to keep cattle out, as they had been using it for a scratching post. A man who identified himself as Robert Christian published a book titled Common Sense Renewed (1986), which described the ideology of the guidestones. The author wrote: Fendley believed that the monument would become a regional tourist attraction. As of 2022, 20,000 annual visitors were reported. Dark Clouds Over Elberton: The True Story of the Georgia Guidestones (2015) is a documentary film purporting to expose the true identity of Robert Christian. The makers of the documentary claimed to have investigated and interviewed a banker who was involved in the financial arrangements for the construction of the monument. Reaction The monument was controversial even before it was unveiled. Some locals referred to its construction as 'the devil's work'. A local minister warned that "occult groups" would visit the site and that a sacrifice was imminent. A 2009 Wired article also noted that sandblaster Charlie Clamp spent hundreds of hours on the etching, during which time he was "constantly distracted by strange music and disjointed voices". In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the New World Order". Wired magazine called the defacement "the first serious act of vandalism in the guidestones' history". In September 2014, an employee of the Elbert County maintenance department contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation when the stones were vandalized with graffiti including the phrase: "I Am Isis, goddess of love." After the acts of vandalism, security cameras were installed on the site. Kandiss Taylor, a candidate in the 2022 Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary, called the Guidestones