A wild environmental protest at Stonehenge, a mysterious monolith near Las Vegas, and a strange scandal involving a politician busted secretly pouring water into her rival's bag were among the weird and wondrous stories to cross our desk this past week.
The mysterious monolith craze of late 2020 saw something of a revival this past week when one of the puzzling pillars was discovered near Las Vegas. Standing nearly six-and-a-half feet tall, the curious object was found by members of the Las Vegas Metro Search and Rescue Team on a hiking trail on the outskirts of the city. Much like many of the mysterious monoliths that popped up around the globe a few years ago, who made the odd pillar and how they placed it in the desert is unknown. After news of the object's discovery sparked headlines, police promptly removed the piece out of concern for public safety.
Photo: Just Stop Oil
Ahead of its annual Summer Solstice celebration, Stonehenge unwittingly found itself in the spotlight this past week when a pair of environmental activists sprayed the iconic monument with orange powder paint as part of a protest against oil consumption. The unfortunate act of vandalism was thankfully short-lived as tourists watching the wild scene unfold quickly took down the two troublemakers who were subsequently arrested. Widely condemned by both British officials and the public, the incident seemingly left Stonehenge no worse for wear as caretakers were able to quickly remove the cornstarch-based paint ahead of Friday morning's festivities.
Photo: Vermont House of Representatives
Easily the weirdest story of the week came by way of Vermont, where a hidden camera at the state's House of Representatives captured a lawmaker secretly pouring water into her rival's bag as part of a months-long campaign of harassment. The bizarre scandal came to light after state rep Jim Carroll noticed that his belongings were consistently and inexplicably being soaked. Setting up a spy camera to get to the bottom of the moist mystery, he was stunned to discover that his colleague, Mary Morrissey, was behind the proverbial water torture. Caught wet-handed, she eventually issued a public apology for her actions, though offered no reason for why she had targeted Carroll since the start of the year.
For more strange and unusual stories from the past week, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.