Telecommunications firms spend $100,000 making towers look like trees, there are up to 2,000 of the trees in the US The bizarre endeavor is a bid to make the metal structures less ugly, it has been going on since 1992
It is a valiant effort.
But these cell phone towers disguised as trees still stand out as distinctly unattractive.
Although the metal structures provide network signal to phone-addicted Americans everywhere, they are also eyesores.
In a bid to diminish their ugliness, network providers have funnelled millions of dollars into making them look like trees.
Is it a tree? A wireless cell phone tower disguised as a palm tree in Las Vegas, Nevada (left) and another in Healdsburg, California
The bizarre endeavor has been going on for years, since 1992, and has even stretched to other parts of the world.
In America there are around 2,000 towers masked as trees.
It costs an extra $100,000 to build the branches and leaves, on top of the $3,000 it takes to build the tower itself.
So far it seems no firms have cracked the code on making the architecture look aesthetically pleasing.
And yet, they persevere.
This compilation of photographs captures some of the most unconvincing cell tower trees across the US.
They first appeared on Atlas Obscura to mark Tree Week last week. It is not the first time these peculiar structures have made headlines. Last year, Daily Mail Online reported that telecommunications firms in Florida were turning their towers into crosses to make them more sightly.
Poster Comment:
Many more photos at source. Some are church steeples. Some are cacti.