IF you visited Google on Sunday morning then you would have been greeted by a rather special animation.
Here's what the search giant's garden gnome tribute game is all about?
GOOGLE Garden gnomes are being celebrated by a special Google Doodle
What is the history of the garden gnome?
As Google's quirky and unusual animation tells you, the loveable garden ornaments first began appearing in 13th century Anatolia (modern day Turkey).
The search engine's creative team - who designed Sunday's game - said: "The common garden gnome originated in 19-century Germany from the mining area of Thuringia.
"Here local craftsmen are given credit for hand-crafting the gnomes as we know them - with shaggy beards and pointy hats.
"Propelled by local myths and increased leisure time, the gnomes began to find homes in gardens throughout the country.
"Legend has it they protect these gardens and bring good luck."
The average garden gnome is usually male and are often depicted carrying out some of their favourite hobbies such as fishing or sleeping.
In more recent history gnomes have made the leap onto the big screen with two animated feature films.
Gnomeo and Juliet was released in 2011 while Sherlock Gnomes, which features the voice of Office co-creator Stephen Merchant, was released earlier this year.
GOOGLE Google's Doodle takes you through the history of the garden gnome
What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
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Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Among the Doodles published in 2018 were ones commemorating cartographer Abraham Ortelius, Egyptian actor Omar Sharif and St Patrick's Day.
Earlier in the year, the search giant celebrated the Paralympics in 2018 in Pyeongchang with an animated design celebrating each of the sports the winter Paralympians will compete in.
