Simon Cox said he was running on Warrington Beach on Monday morning when he found the driftwood.
Part of the 10m tree was carved ''quite beautifully'' and painted red, he said.
''I ran past it initially and then ran back because I saw something red against the natural log. It's what attracted me to come over and have a look.''
From a glance it looked like something ''quite different''.
''I fully expected to find a dead body or something to be honest. It was quite bright colour against all the natural colour.''
The artwork seemed to have ''some effort put into it'', he said.
Dr Cox said he was curious about how far it travelled to get to the beach.
''My assumption is that it wasn't carved out on the beach, that it was washed in.
''I don't see any chips or other pieces of wood around it or paint, and there's also a bit of damage to the paint.
''I'm hopeful someone might recognise it and we can find out how far it has come.''
