An image some say resembles the face of Jesus Christ has appeared on the stump of a tree felled in a Belfast cemetery.

Locals say the image shows a bearded man who resembles Jesus, on the tree stump beside the grave in West Belfast.

A video of the mysterious image, entitled “Belfast City Cemetery Phenomenon” was posted on YouTube with the following message.

"An image has appeared on a tree stump in Belfast's City Cemetery.

"Upon close inspection, it’s hard to tell just how this image got there.

"Recently City Council employees trimmed trees in the cemetery, and as a result this phenomenon appeared."

This is not the first time a religious depiction has been spotted in a tree in Ireland. In June 2009, workers at Holy Mary Parish Church in Rathkeale discovered what they believed was an image of the Virgin Mary in a tree stump in Co Limerick.

“One of the lads said look, our Blessed Lady in the tree,' Rathkeale Community Council Graveyard Committee chairman Noel White said at the time.

'One of the other lads looked over and actually knelt down and blessed himself, he got such a shock.

“It was the perfect shape of the figure of Our Lady holding the baby,” he said.

Thousands of people signed a petition to ensure the tree stump remained in the grounds permanently.

However, the local parish priest was not convinced.

Fr Willie Russell said: "There's nothing there . . . it's just a tree. You can't worship a tree."

Although not tree related, last November, an American tourist also captured an image of an
apparent apparition of Jesus Christ at the Cliffs of Moher.

As reported by IrishCentral, Sandra Clifford, a pilot from San Francisco, captured the image on her digital camera when she visited the famous Co. Clare tourist attraction on November 4 last.