fix(merge): clone elements instead of treating them like simple objects

	Similar fix to #11720

Closes #12286

src/Angular.js

@@ -360,6 +360,8 @@ function baseExtend(dst, objs, deep) {
           dst[key] = new Date(src.valueOf());
         } else if (isRegExp(src)) {
           dst[key] = new RegExp(src);
+        } else if (isElement(src)) {
+          dst[key] = src[0] ? jqLite(src).clone()[0] : jqLite(src).clone();
         } else {
           if (!isObject(dst[key])) dst[key] = isArray(src) ? [] : {};
           baseExtend(dst[key], [src], true);

test/AngularSpec.js

@@ -522,6 +522,17 @@ describe('angular', function() {
 
       expect(dst.date).toBe(src.date);
     });
+
+    it('should copy elements by reference', function() {
+      var src = { element: document.createElement('div'),
+        jqObject: jqLite("<p><span>s1</span><span>s2</span></p>").find("span") };
+      var dst = {};
+
+      extend(dst, src);
+
+      expect(dst.element).toBe(src.element);
+      expect(dst.jqObject).toBe(src.jqObject);
+    });
   });
 
 
@@ -612,6 +623,21 @@ describe('angular', function() {
       expect(isRegExp(dst.regexp)).toBe(true);
       expect(dst.regexp.toString()).toBe(src.regexp.toString());
     });
+
+
+    it('should copy(clone) elements', function() {
+      var src = { element: document.createElement('div'),
+        jqObject: jqLite("<p><span>s1</span><span>s2</span></p>").find("span") };
+      var dst = {};
+
+      merge(dst, src);
+
+      expect(dst.element).not.toBe(src.element);
+      expect(dst.jqObject).not.toBe(src.jqObject);
+
+      expect(isElement(dst.element)).toBeTruthy();
+      expect(isElement(dst.jqObject)).toBeTruthy();
+    });
   });