Hundreds of monkeys that escaped a wildlife facility and invaded homes and buildings have been recaptured.

More than 200 monkeys broke out of Pho Khao Ton Monkey Nursery by destroying their cages and roamed into nearby villages including a police station in Lopburi province, Thailand, on November 1.

Some entered houses to find food, while others were found at Wat Sao Thong Thong Buddhist temple, attracted by the vegetables and fruits given to the animals during Sunday service.

A troop was also spotted at Tha Hin Police Station, where they climbed all over the radio antenna, causing damage.

Footage shows the monkeys climbing over a 8ft (2m) high fence of the facility as seen by a driver who passed through a road outside.

The manager of the building said: 'More than 100 monkeys have been returned. We still only need to capture a few.'

A radio dispatcher from the police station, Police Sub Lieutenant Chinnanut added: 'There would have been bigger damage if they reached the joins attaching the antenna to the station. It was chaos.'

The animal facility administration sought help from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for more staff members to assist in the search and capture of the escaped monkeys.

They also asked locals to inform them if they found monkeys roaming around.

Last year, more than 30 monkeys invaded the same police station and homes after a similar mass break out from the old cages happened.

Thailand's growing population of primates has become a problem as the animals are known to damage property, such as cars and buildings. Unafraid of the consequences, they have also started stealing food from tourists and locals.

Many provincial governments in Thailand have been lobbying for the removal of crab-eating macaques from the country's list of protected wildlife. The legal protections have been hampering efforts to curb the pillaging simians' ballooning numbers.

Meanwhile, the Thai government is taking steps to manage the monkey population in the country, including creating sanctuaries, mass sterilisation programs, educating the public on how to handle the animals properly, and relocating them to more suitable habitats.