The "tree that ate a bicycle" on Washington's Vashon Island has been a popular destination for curiosity seekers for years.
The fake story
Pictures of the bicycle are commonly associated with text claiming it was left chained to a tree by a boy who went off to war in 1914.
The real story
The bicycle was left behind in the mid-1950s by a local resident who simply abandoned it.
A Ship of Theseus debate
The bicycle exhibits a somewhat varied appearance in photographs taken at different times because over the years parts of it (e.g., handlebars, tires) have been stolen or worn away and replaced with similar parts, creating a Ship of Theseus debate over whether the current bike is truly an original at this point.
I fucking hate SEO. The good stuff is never at the beginning. Snopes articles always waste your time by forcing you to scan through needless text. But SEO demands such shit.
