The enigmatic object appeared to have popped up overnight in Oatlands Park, West Oxford. It follows the appearance of similar monoliths around the world starting, in early November, with a steel structure in a remote area of the American state of Utah. They have since cropped up everywhere from the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury to Romania and Australia, with a gingerbread version discovered in San Francisco. Among those scratching their head over the origin of the pillar in deep water, just off Botley Road, was popular DJ Dominic Utton who lives nearby. He said: “It definitely wasn’t there on New Year’s Eve so it must have arrived overnight.