A popular social media trend is being blamed for ruining our beaches by campaigners.

If you search the word "stones" on a photo sharing app , you are sure to find scores of artfully composed shots of stones stacked delicately in a sort of gravity-defying sculpture.

The practice of stone-stacking isn’t only rated for Instagrammable photo opportunities, it’s a fairly well known meditative hobby, which enthusiasts claim to be “very good for the mind, body and spirit and restoring the soul”.

However, the Blue Planet Society has slammed the growing number of stone-stackers over concerns they are ruining the environment , blasting it as “a damaging craze that has reached epidemic proportions across the globe”.

The sculptures could be causing more harm than you realise

The group are demanding a crackdown on "narcissistic" beach-goers who pile rocks over fears they are damaging the fragile ecosystems and that “underneath every rock would have been a community of life”.

Critics of the practice say the trend has exploded through “increased tourism and social media”, adding the “sheer number” of stacks posed “very real concern for wildlife”.

John Hourston, founder of the Blue Planet Society, said: “Cruise ships are taking people in large numbers to more and more out of the way places – Orkney, the Shetlands, the Faroes, Iceland, around Scotland – and everyone wants to take a memorable picture.

“People are doing it with no education of the environment so they don’t know what site they’re in - whether the site has any wildlife significance or historic significance.

“Add to that the historic significance of cairns in Scotland, used for landmarks and to show safe ways. You’re now confusing that with personal statements that really mean nothing.”

“Everything has its place. I think creativity is great and I think getting into the environment is great, but with the growth of social media it’s reached a point where everybody’s doing it.

“People are comparing the current trend to Stonehenge, but the population of neolithic Britain was +/- 10,000. Today it’s 65,000,000.”

There are also concerns that by moving the rocks, it is increasing land erosion unnecessarily and disturbing local birds.

But supporters of the trend say the health benefits far outweigh any damage.

Stone-stacking artist James Craig Page also organises the European stone-stacking championships in Dunbar in Scotland, which attracts competitors from across the UK.

For James, the benefits to mental health far outweigh any harm that is being done to the environment.

“We’ve done workshops with schools and have found that children who have trouble focusing in the classroom absolutely take to the stone balancing,” he told the BBC.

Campaigners say stone-stacking could be causing serious harm to our beaches

“A lot of parents and teachers alike have said they are absolutely flabbergasted at these children spending more than 30 seconds focused on anything.

“The first rule of the environment is leave no trace. If we educated people to understand that philosophy, I think people would have second thoughts about making a personal statement with a rock stack.”

Stone stacks, or cairns, have been used since ancient times, often erected as landmarks or memorials.

However the number of people making their own versions of the monuments has sky-rocketed steadily since artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and Adrian Gray used the practice in their work.

As with any new craze that boasts aesthetic value, stone-stacking has been brought to the mainstream via social media - with some efforts gaining thousands of likes on Instagram.

There can be eye-catching results when awkwardly shaped rocks are arranged in a way that appears to defy gravity.