IN the dead of night, at seemingly random locations across the region, large stone heads are appearing alongside a mystifying clue.

The gargoyles, which all feature the same carved symbol and come with the riddle attached, have been placed outside homes and businesses across Yorkshire.

Each of the heads looks different, but all feature the same carving - which appears to spell out the word paradox - and a note bearing the cryptic clue: "Twinkle twinkle like a star, does love blaze less from afar?"

So far, 12 have appeared in Goathland and Kilburn, in North Yorkshire; four have been found in Arthington, near Leeds, West Yorkshire; and three in Braithwell, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Fiona Gould, the owner of the Foresters Arms in Kilburn, near Thirsk, received a gargoyle last month. She said: "He turned up a week last Monday between 1.30am and 7.30am. I opened the door and there he was, as large as life, sat on the patio."

"There are also unconfirmed reports of another head in a village near Selby in North Yorkshire."

Miss Gould's gargoyle now has pride of place on the bar in her pub. "We would love to meet or find out who it is, whoever it is is extremely talented," she added.

Baffled residents are hoping the clue to identifying the mystery stonemason lies in CCTV footage of a man getting out of his car with three of the heads in Braithwell.

George Griffiths, an artist from Arthington, near Leeds, has launched his own investigation after discovering one of the heads on August 23, and then found another outside his house two weeks later. After speaking to friends and neighbours, he became aware of two more of the sculptures being left in the village.

He contacted stonemasons at York Minster in an effort to trace what appeared to be a mason's mark on his heads, but said nobody had ever seen anything like it before. He also turned to the internet and dictionaries to try to find out details about the rhyme, but again drew a blank.

Mr Griffiths said: "I think its a publicity stunt - I cant see anything else. They are not sinister or anything like that, its just a puzzle. Were all just waiting and wondering to find out more."