This is the moment a kind police officer helped a distressed skunk wandering with two plastic cups on its head.

Officer David Hilton was at the drive-through area of a doughnut shop in Old Town, Maine, on August 19 when he spotted the black-and-white animal walking across the street near his patrol car.

Bodycam footage shows the cop gently coaxing the skunk towards him as he urged it 'not to show its butt'. He then pulled a cup off its head, only to find another one stacked underneath.

Officer Hilton grabbed the second cup without being sprayed, and the skunk was seen bounding away to freedom.

In a statement, the Old Town Police Department wrote: 'Officer Hilton has worked with our police department since April and we learned recently he had never seen a skunk before moving to Maine from Georgia this spring. A couple weeks ago, he had an encounter with a skunk in the Dunkin drive-through in Old Town. To Officer Hilton's surprise, the skunk had two cups stuck on his head.'