'Face of God' spotted in slab of marble given to man by his late father

A man still struggling to cope after the death of his father has found fresh hope after spotting the face of God in a slab of marble given to him by his departed father.

Charlie Deeb, 55, was given the precious piece of onyx by his father Michel who discovered the rare find at his stone factory in 1970.

He put the slab, which measures 45cm by 23cm and is 2cm thick, in storage in a vault in Switzerland, and thought no more about it.

But last year he traveled to the country to inspect the slab, which weighs 15kg, and was shocked to see the face of God embedded into the rock.

Charlie, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire said: "My dad displayed this piece in a locked glass cabinet in his factory show room until 1975 when the Lebanese civil war broke out.

"He then stored it in our house in Beirut all through the 19 years of civil war.

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A man still struggling to cope after the death of his father has found fresh hope after spotting the face of God in a slab of marble given to him by his dear departed dad.

Charlie Deeb, 55, was given the precious piece of onyx by his father Michel who discovered the rare find at his stone factory in 1970.

He put the slab, which measures 45cm by 23cm and is 2cm thick, in storage in a vault in Switzerland, and thought no more about it.

But last year he travelled to the country to inspect the slab, which weighs 15kg, and was shocked to see the face of God embedded into the rock.

Charlie, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire said: "My dad displayed this piece in a locked glass cabinet in his factory show room until 1975 when the Lebanese civil war broke out.

"He then stored it in our house in Beirut all through the 19 years of civil war.

"I never really thought too much about it until I inspected it more closely and saw what appeared to be the face of God inside the rock."

Charlie, who is not married and has no children, wrote a letter to the Natural History Museum in London asking if it was a common occurrence.

He said: "I received a letter back explaining that this is an accidental quirk of nature.

"I have done a lot of research and I have not found any picture as clearly defined as this inside a stone.

"A friend of my family said 'Actually Charlie the stone found your dad and not the other way round' so I think it is a very important and rare discovery.

"It is so rare for a number of reasons. If the table tops had been stacked in a different order, it might never have been discovered.

"Also, sedimentary rock is quarried in big blocks of anywhere from six to 15 tonnes.

"The blocks are then cut either along their vein formation, to reveal the beauty of the stone, or across the vein for more strength.

"Massive machines are used in the process and no one can determine what is inside a block or slab of stone before cutting and final polish.

"If this 2cm thick slab was cut 1mm either way or across, this picture would have not been revealed.

Charlie, an engineer, believes the marble could be worth millions of pounds but says he has no plans to sell it.

He added: "I believe that this naturally formed, very clear and detailed icon needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

"It is the only one in existence that I am aware of.

"I have no plans to sell it, it's a very powerful link I have to my father."