Erika La Tour Eiffel, 37, a former soldier who lives in San Francisco has fallen in love with the Berlin Wall, a piece of fence, and her bow that helped her become a world class archer. You might say she has an object fetish. She has now decided to pledge to love honour and obey the Eiffel Tower. The marriage ceremony was attended by a handful of her closest friends. She even changed her last name to reflect this commitment of love.

She blames her upbringing for her condition. She claims to have been molested by her half-brother and abandoned by her parents to various foster homes.

“Someone who falls in love with objects can control that relationship on their own terms,” he said. “Their objects will not let them down. That is extremely attractive for a person who is otherwise often desperately lonely.” Says Jerry Brooker a New York State psychotherapist.