Utah monolith: Has the mysterious metal object disappeared?
News11-39-20
A mysterious metal monolith discovered last week in the desert in the US state of Utah has disappeared, officials say.
Utah's Bureau of Land Management said it had seen credible reports the object had been removed "by an unknown party".
Social media images apparently from the site show a pile of rocks and a small piece of metal left behind.
The discovery of the 12ft (3.7m) high object sparked a national guessing game as to how it got there, and saw dozens of people pay a visit in recent days.
The strange metal object was first spotted on 18 November by a helicopter crew counting big horn sheep from the air, in a remote south-eastern area of Utah.
News of its discovery and speculation over its origins quickly went viral on social media, with many observers presuming it was an art installation left by a sculptor.
As yet no-one has claimed responsibility for installing the structure.