A cheeky elephant was caught stealing a whole banana plant from a farm.

The jumbo named Krae entered the plantation alone and took the fruit before fleeing in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand.

Footage shows Krae carrying the entire banana tree with leaves and branches in his mouth when farmer Preeda Bureerak discovered him on November 7.

The wild animal then returned to the forest with its loot.

Preeda said: 'He comes every day to take my plants. When he cannot find a banana, he will take corn, palms, or mangoes. But his favourite is the banana.'

Elephants are known for their voracious appetite. The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) found need to eat up to 150kg of food per day - the equivalent of 375 tins of baked beans

Conservationists in Thailand say that wild elephants - up to 3,500 of them - have even developed a taste for human food and prefer to rummage through homes and vehicles for snacks, instead of the bland leaves they find in the forest.