A New Jersey man was charged Thursday with defacing an ancient rock formation in Salem, New Hampshire, carving the QAnon phrase “WWG1WGA” into the stone with a power tool in 2019, CNN reports.
Fifty-year-old Mark Russo, was taken into custody by law enforcement officials in Rockingham County, New Jersey and will be extradited to New Hampshire to face charges in the September 2019 vandalism. He is expected to be charged with one count of felony criminal mischief.
Police were called to the rock formation, known as “America’s Stonehenge” and believed to be 4,000 years old, in August 2019, after people reported a man with power tools carving into the rocks. When they arrived, they found the “WWG1WGA”–representing the QAnon motto “Where We Go One We Go All”–carved into the rock.
They also found an 18-inch cross, bedecked with photos and drawings, hanging between two trees, along with a note reading “U where (sic) warned not to drink the blood, but children, to get high! These people are sick/ these people are stupid.”
At the time, Salem police did not understand the significant of the writings or its connection to QAnon. Investigators were able to track the vandalism to Russo using social media posts.