Fact Check: Viral photo of tree carved in shape of hand is not located in Kashmir but in Wales, United Kingdom

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A photo is doing rounds on social media showing a tree carved in the shape of a hand. The caption with the photo states that the tree is located at Dogripora, Kashmir. When Vishvas News investigated we found the post to be misleading. The image is real and the carving actually exists. But, this isn’t in Kashmir. It is located at the Lake Vyrnwy estate in Wales.

Claim

A photo shared on Facebook by a page named ‘Kashmir News’ shows a tree carved in the shape of a hand. The caption with the photo reads: “Tree Carving North kashmir dogripora..” The archived version of the post can be checked here.

Investigation

Vishvas News performed Google Reverse Image Search of the viral photo. We found the same photo on the website 9GAG in a report titled: The Giant Hand of Vyrnwy. Sculptured by Simon O’Rourke. Standing 50ft or nearly 15.5 meters.

Using appropriate keywords on Google Search we found an article on BBC titled: Lake Vyrnwy tallest tree carved into a giant hand. The article has the same photo. According to the article, the photo shows the remnants of the UK’s tallest tree, which was felled after being damaged in a storm, has been transformed into a carving of a giant hand. Artist Simon O’Rourke, 33, from Wrexham, used a chainsaw to carve the top of the stump, and modelled the sculpture on his own hand.

We further investigated and found the photo on the website of the artist Simon O’Rourke who carved the sculpture. 

We contacted artist Simon O’Rourke through email who confirmed that the tree sculpture has been created by him and is located in Wales, United Kingdom.

The viral post is shared on Facebook by a page named Kashmir News. When we scanned the page we found the page has 57,331 followers till date.