It has happened with many different benches to me, but especially the larger, harder to place ones like the stables, maproom, wheels of pain.
It is very similar to this bug with placing building pieces. While there is no error displayed (also happens where there’s no error displayed with the building piece issue on occasion), it presents itself almost the same.
There is no specific location. It has happened to me in several biomes and varying degrees of terrain in the past.