New York, Mar 21 (IANS): Police in the US state of Tennessee have launched an investigation into a controversial Facebook photograph showing two young children with their hands and mouths bound and covered with duct tape, a media report said.

Published under a caption that read, "Kids for Sale 45 percent Off because they bad," the photo was sent to police by "a few sources" on Thursday, NBCNews.com reported on Sunday.

The photo was published on the now-deleted profile of a Facebook user last week.

A man believed to be a cousin of the Facebook user described the photo as "basically a joke" in a post on the social media site on Friday.

"I don't really (too) much care about the people they have opinions," the post read.

"Our family and friends know the love we have for all the kids in our family it's just crazy that out of a whole lifetime they judge a person off of this one event. Basically a joke at the moment that people just went overboard about. People make mistakes and that's what this situation is, a lesson learned. They are safe, unharmed, and loved that's all it is to it," he said.