VATICAN CITY, Nov 20 — The Vatican said today that it had asked Instagram to investigate how a "like” attributed to Pope Francis’ official account ended up on a photo of a scantily clad Brazilian model.

The "like” was discovered earlier this week by one of the 2.4 million people who follow Natalia Garibotto on the photo and video sharing site.

A Vatican spokesman said Instagram was looking into the matter. A Vatican source said that, according to early indications, the "like” did not come from the Vatican and that it was unclear whether the account had been hacked.

All of the pope’s social media accounts are managed by a communications office. He has 7.4 million followers on Instagram. — Reuters