St Valentine's Day is for people in love. Love, however, is in the mind and in the heart. The phrase 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' is clearly understood and never more so than when observing a couple, one of whom is beautiful and the other who doesn't match the stunning looks of their mate.

It is a phrase I have decided to match to a medical condition known as 'objectum-sexual' or objectophilia.

Human sexuality is full of fetishes. Many people fall in love with a part of the body not associated with love - arms or knees, rather than hair, face or figure. We often hear someone saying 'I love her long dark hair'. This is when the mind takes over from the heart.

How, then, can it be so strange to fall in love with a 'thing'? With objectophilia, feelings of love, attraction, arousal and commitment are focused on a particular object. To someone having this condition, the mere thought of a relationship with a human being seems ludicrous.

Imagine rising from your bed, 18 years after your marriage, to see your 'husband' publicly executed. This is what happened to a Swedish woman. Her 'husband' was the Berlin Wall, and on November 9, 1989, she was traumatised as she watched him come down until 'he' no longer existed.

Eija-Riita Eklöf married in 1979, legally changing her name to Eija-Riita Eklöf-Mauer (Mauer means wall). She said 'the Great Wall of China is attractive but my husband is sexier'. Explaining her condition, she added, 'I find long, slim things with horizontal lines very sexy'. After her husband's 'death', she dated a fence for several years.

It is not only women who love objects. One man found that he was particularly aroused by the inner workings of mechanical objects and this often led to affairs. He would cheat on his beloved, which was a steam locomotive, so a simple repair job would lead to all sorts of domestic trouble. Incidentally, the steam locomotive partner was a male to him. Therefore, technically, he lives in an objectum-sexual gay relationship.

Some objectophilians are in love with cars, laptops, musical instruments and even toy trains. The difference between loving your car, which many people say they do, is that those suffering from this condition actually feel aroused. This is sad, because the love they hold is unrequited love. However, in this day and age of stalkers and obsessives, perhaps unrequited love is the most magnificent love of all. Literature is full of it.

Another example of such love is that of a person identified in academic literature as Sandy K., a widow. Her 'husband' was the World Trade Centre. She saw the Twin Towers as male, sexy and extremely desirable. Her sad story is told by German news magazine Spiegel Online.

Another objectum-sexual love relationship tells the story of a man who fell into a complex emotional and deep relationship with his toy trains for years. It was "a deep-held love".

It is tempting to laugh. However, it could only be a matter of time before objectum-sexuals demand government recognition of their love inclinations. It seems that objectophiles come in both heterosexual and homosexual persuasions. One male dotes on his laptop, a Macintosh, and it's definitely male. While Doro B. fell for her metal processing machine at work and "immediately sensed a female presence".

Volkmar Sigusch, a professor and former director of the Institute for Sexual Science at Germany's Frankfurt University, sees objectophilia as evidence of a general cultural shift into asexuality.

"More and more people either openly declare, or can be seen to live without, any intimate or trusting relationship with another person." The professor also enforces that objectophiles are not harmful towards people.

"They do not abuse or traumatise. Who else can you say that about? In addition, if you don't ask, they won't tell."

So on this day of love let's encompass everyone and everything we love, including partners, pets, the car and the garden shed!

This article appeared in the Valentine's Day supplement of The Sunday Times, February 8, 2009.