A wildlife charity has been told it must seek planning permission for a mystery totem pole - that seemingly appeared overnight.

The eight foot tall sculpture cropped up on a section of the North Downs Way national trail, which runs through the Capel-Le-Ferne nature reserve.

The area of white chalk cliffs is owned by Kent Wildlife Trust - but the local authority has asked that the conservation charity seek retrospective planning permission to keep the totem pole.

The Trust is now appealing for the public’s help in identifying the artist of the carving so that they can put forward a planning application.

Also, to add to the growing level of intrigue surrounding its origins, the pole is inscribed with the name Perkûnas - a Baltic deity.

In Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, Perkûnas is documented as the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, fire, war, law, order, fertility, mountains and oak trees.

Ian Rickards, the area manager, said: “The artist behind this would have spent hours painstakingly carving out the details and we are keen to keep it on our reserve.

“The artwork seems to be a hit with the walkers who have taken selfies and congratulated us on the installation, but we had no idea how it came to be there –it’s a ‘Totem’ mystery!

“The local council has given us eight weeks to submit planning permission and it would be great to track down the person behind Perkûnas to get a bit more detail so we can keep it.”

The Trust has also asked for donations to help fund planning permission.

Mr Rickards added: “The planning application will incur a cost to the Trust, so if anyone would like to make a donation to help fund the process, it would be gratefully received.”

It is not clear when the totem pole appeared, however, Kent Wildlife Trust updated their website last week.