An "incredibly disturbing" photo of a koala screwed to a pole has surfaced, prompting an RSPCA investigation into what an animal welfare worker has called one of the worst things he has seen.

A member of the public phoned two wildlife rescue services after being told about an injured animal at a picnic area at the Brooloo Park Lookout in Imbil near the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.

Warning: this story contains an image that some readers may find distressing.

Council workers took the koala away, saying it was dead and had been screwed to the post.

The RSPCA will conduct an autopsy on Thursday to determine whether a koala was dead prior to being attached to the pole.

A picture of the koala was posted to The Koala Rescue Queensland Facebook page calling on the public for any information on who was responsible.

The post, which was shared more than 1,000 times, sparked outrage on social media with some calling the act "disgusting" and "beyond evil".

Facebook user Jenalle Payne said the story brought tears to her eyes.

"This is totally disgusting what person could do this," she wrote in a post.

"Makes me sick to the core that so many humans are so bloody cruel," Cherie Ann wrote.

"I hope to god these scumbags are caught."

Detective Senior Sergeant Darren Edwards from Sunshine Coast police said investigations into the incident were ongoing.

It is not known if the koala was alive when it was screwed to the post. ( Facebook: Koala Rescue Queensland )

"Whether the animal was dead when it was put up there and it was put up there for some sort of sick joke we don't know, certainly the wildlife people are investigating that," he said.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said investigators were approaching the Gympie Regional Council to see if they could retrieve the koala's body.

"There needs to be an autopsy done on the koala's body to find out exactly what happened," Mr Beatty said.

He said it was "incredibly disturbing" and the offenders could be prosecuted.

"If it was proved that somebody did inflict injuries that caused the koala to die they will be charged with animal cruelty and possibly even worse under the criminal code," he said.

Koala Rescue Queensland president Murray Chambers said he had seen many terrible things done to koalas, but none as cruel as this.

"This is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen of my whole 10 years of doing this," he said.

Mr Chambers said he spoke to the council workers who took down the dead marsupial.

He said it was unclear whether the koala was alive when it was attached to the post.

"At this stage we don't know … we need to try and find this out," he said.

"The culprit even put gum leaves next to the koala … just makes you feel sick in the guts."