Talk about not taking your litter with you, an enormous 747 airplane is sat in the Nevada desert following Burning Man Festival.
It wasn't left lazily like a plastic bottle or a few napkins from a picnic, but from this year's shindig. The partially reassembled aircraft currently lies in the Black Rock Desert after being moved about 12 miles from the Burning Man site (playa).
Basically, it's a huge issue because rule number one of Burning Man Festival's 80,000 attendees is to 'leave no trace' at the site after the week-long event ends.
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So, for a 747 to be sat in the desert two weeks later is a bit odd and is definitely causing issues.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Nevada (BLM), which manages Black Rock Desert, said the owners of the 40-foot tall plane need to remove it - sooner rather than later.
Rudy Evenson, of BLM, told the Reno Gazette Journal: "It was moved off the event site without BLM authorization. So, its legal status is in trespass with unauthorised use.
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"Bottom line is, we're evaluating options for getting rid of it."
Because Burning Man has ended, the BLM said the owners, Big Imagination, will need to apply for a new permit to remove the 747.
All art installations that are part of Burning Man are initially covered with a recreation permit - but that expired in the days just after Burning Man finished.
Big Imagination claims it has not abandoned the plane and insists it does have plans in place to move the plane to a storage facility nearby.
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The company issue a statement on its website in an attempt to calm concerns that its art installation - the plane - could jeopardise the future of the legendary festival, especially since the main principle behind Burning Man is to not leave the place in a tip.
They said: "As a collective of 500+ volunteers who have been working on this since 2014 the last thing we would want to do is to leave behind an ecological disaster on the playa or in any way impact Burning Man from getting their permit.
"We acknowledge that our exodus plan has not gone as expected and we apologize for any undue stress this has caused to the greater burner community, for the Burning Man Org, and especially the BLM with whom we've always sought good relations and whom we are working closely with to resolve this situation as rapidly as possible.
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"We are working with the BLM to move the plane into its storage location in a manner that is in compliance with the requisite regulations and also in good stewardship of the land."
However, BML doesn't seem too happy with the response as it said there was no road between the playa and the private property where the owners were planning to store the aircraft.
"That's part of the National Conservation Area so you can't build a new road," Evenson said.
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He added: "I think right now everything is on the table as far as removing it. Obviously, our preference would be for the vehicle owners to take care of it."
Pilot Dustin Mosher spotted the abandoned plane while flying his private aircraft over the area last week.
"Like a mirage, a 747 appeared in the desert." he wrote alongside a video of the plane.
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