Sri Lanka unveils world's tallest artificial Christmas tree

Sri Lanka on Saturday unveiled a towering Christmas tree, claiming to have surpassed the world record for an artificial Christmas tree despite constructions delays and a shorter-than-planned finished product.  

According to organizers, the 73-metre tree built in the capital Colombo is 18 metres taller than the current record holder.

The tree's steel-and-wire frame is covered with a plastic net decorated with more than a million natural pine cones painted red, gold, green and silver, 600,000 LED bulbs and topped by a six-metre-tall shining star.

The tree is said to cost $US80,000, which was criticised by the Catholic Church as a "waste of money" and suggested that the funds should had better be spent on helping the poor.