A hungry wild elephant was caught trespassing through school after-hours in Thailand.

CCTV footage shows the jumbo rummaging through the bushes while looking for fruit at the Khao Wong Kot school in Chanthaburi province on April 2 at 3am.

Most of the plants were trampled on by the animal, which even damaged the floor of the school building.

The four-tonne male elephant with 50cm-long ivory tusks has become notorious in the area as it had raided homes in the village and the school five times.

School director Suwit Phoejak said he had ordered the fruit-bearing trees inside the school grounds to be cut back to prevent the animal from returning.

He said: ‘The elephant wanted to eat the fruit from palm trees in our school. We trimmed them down but the elephant just keeps on coming back.’

Some of the teachers who arrived at school early still saw the elephant lurking around the compound so they asked some volunteers to scare the animal away.

Director Suwit said that he was worried that the elephant could raid the school during classes.

He said: ‘I am concerned that the elephant could come during school hours and the children might be injured by him.’

Elephants are the national animal of Thailand. An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild and a similar number in captivity.

In the wild, they roam through the deep jungle and in the country’s protected national parks but often encounter humans on roads and in villages. However, they are protected by laws and killing them carries a maximum prison term of up to three years and a fine of 1,000 baht (25GBP).