# Stonehenge vandalized **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241 "2008-05-22T13:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/1 "2008-05-22T13:41:14Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080522/wl\_uk\_afp/britainarchaeologyhistoryheritagestonehenge](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080522/wl_uk_afp/britainarchaeologyhistoryheritagestonehenge) Evidently they took a coin-sized chip from one of the center stones with a hammer and screwdriver (using it as a chisel), and left a 2.5 inch scar on the Heel Stone. Not much of a vandalizing, but Not Good. They got away. What the heck? Were these souvenir hunters, or NewAge types of an unscrupulous sort , looking for relics? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/2 "2008-05-22T13:51:57Z")
Whatever other category they might fall under, they were assholes. I hate assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/3 "2008-05-22T13:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] What the heck? Were these souvenir hunters, or NewAge types of an unscrupulous sort , looking for relics? Or what? [/QUOTE] No one knows who they were, or what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/4 "2008-05-22T13:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=Borborygmi] No one knows who they were, or what they were doing. [/QUOTE] Perhaps they were some sort of calendar? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/5 "2008-05-22T14:28:32Z")
Well, itā€™s not on e-bay yet. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/6 "2008-05-22T14:32:22Z")
There is loads of graffiti in Newgrange . Some of it goes back to the 19th century, people etched their names in the stone. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/7 "2008-05-22T15:01:48Z")
Considering how much camera surveillance Britain has, itā€™s hard to imagine they donā€™t have a couple on Stonehenge. Itā€™s not like the place is the worlds largest ball of rubber bands or some other trivial site. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/8 "2008-05-22T15:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] What the heck? Were these souvenir hunters, or NewAge types of an unscrupulous sort , looking for relics? Or what? [/QUOTE] Morons? What they got was a little piece of stone, itā€™s not part of Stonehenge any more and it will look just like any other pick of rock. Do they think itā€™s magic or something? A sort of holy relic? The (urm) essense? of Stonehenge is that itā€™s an arrangement of bloody great rocks thousands of yearsā€™ old you donā€™t get any of that from a little chip of stone. Anyway Aveburyā€™s better. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/9 "2008-05-22T15:48:10Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] What the heck? Were these souvenir hunters, or NewAge types of an unscrupulous sort , looking for relics? Or what? [/QUOTE] Total heels, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/10 "2008-05-22T15:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Total heels, anyway. [/QUOTE] ::winces:: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/11 "2008-05-22T16:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Total heels, anyway. [/QUOTE] Thatā€™s druidful. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/12 "2008-05-22T16:28:27Z")
I mean, to do something like that, they must be unhenged. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/13 "2008-05-22T16:32:33Z")
Of course, Stonehenge is a bit of a con anyway, cos most of the rocks have just been plunked down where the 19th-century ā€œrestorersā€ thought they ought to go, having fallen over and been generally kicked around over the years. And for some reason itā€™s obligatory for all American tourists who visit it to say ā€œGee, itā€™s so _small_.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/14 "2008-05-22T17:12:32Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Evidently they took a coin-sized chip from one of the center stones with a hammer and screwdriver (using it as a chisel), and left a 2.5 inch scar on the Heel Stone. [/QUOTE] Just restoring a longstanding tradition. My Stonehenge guide book (purchased at the official Stonehenge gift shop) mentions that in the old days you could go into town and rent a hammer and chisel for precisely that purpose. I might have said ā€œGee, itā€™s so _small_,ā€ but Iā€™m not sure. I did get a really beautiful photo of it in the crisp cold January air. I keep it in my office. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/15 "2008-05-22T19:53:21Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And for some reason itā€™s obligatory for all American tourists who visit it to say ā€œGee, itā€™s so _small_.ā€ [/QUOTE] Well the stones were SUPPOSED to be 18ā€™ high, not 18". ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/16 "2008-05-22T20:02:08Z")
> [@](#): > > And for some reason itā€™s obligatory for all American tourists who visit it to say ā€œGee, itā€™s so small.ā€ I didnā€™t ā€“ it was big enough for me. I visited before they isolated the thing, so I could go up and touch the stones. My comment was that I wasnā€™t terribly impressed by the so-called dagger images on the rocks. ā€œYouā€™ve got to have faith!ā€ replied a guard, when I mentioned this. What the heck ā€“ itā€™s bigger and more impressibve than **Americaā€™s Stonehenge** > **[America's Stonehenge | Historic Site | 105 Haverhill Rd, Salem, NH, USA](https://www.stonehengeusa.com/)** > > A historic site and museum located in Salem, New Hampshire, exhibiting more than 4,000 years of local history, ancient artifacts, and natural landscapes. ā€¦and better-looking than American replicas: > **[America Unhenged - Stonehenge Replicas](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/29025)** > > Faithful replicas, improved designs and artistic tributes to England's megalith rock circle of old have cropped up across the USA. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/17 "2008-05-22T20:17:40Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] What the heck ā€“ itā€™s bigger and more impressibve than **Americaā€™s Stonehenge**. [/QUOTE] That ainā€™t ā€œAmericaā€™s Stonehengeā€. [This is!](http://www.carhenge.com) ā€¦Ah, you have it in your second link. Well Iā€™d like to see someone take a chip out oā€™ Carhenge! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/18 "2008-05-22T20:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] I mean, to do something like that, they must be unhenged. [/QUOTE] Tsk tsk. Mind your menhirs! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/19 "2008-05-22T20:20:52Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And for some reason itā€™s obligatory for all American tourists who visit it to say ā€œGee, itā€™s so _small_.ā€ [/QUOTE] Thatā€™s what everyone says when they see the Statute of Liberty. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241/20 "2008-05-22T20:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And for some reason itā€™s obligatory for all American tourists who visit it to say ā€œGee, itā€™s so _small_.ā€ [/QUOTE] We have to. They wonā€™t let us back through customs if we donā€™t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge-vandalized/450241.md?page=2)