Watch: US man steals chainsaw by stuffing it in his pants

A US man has been caught on camera stealing a chainsaw by stuffing it in his pants.

Police in Fresno, California, are looking for the man who can be seen in the video stuffing the chainsaw down his pants, then using his jacket to cover the engine assembly.

He then exited the store and drove away in a Dodge Ram truck.

Footage of the theft has gone viral but the man is yet to be caught.

"You get a feel for these people," the store owner, Jeff Bennett, told the Fresno Bee newspaper.

He said the theft is no laughing matter and he is not pleased that his store has made the news.

"It was frustrating, you feel embarrassed, you feel confused," Bennett told ABC30, after the footage went viral.

"You kind of wish if they applied themselves doing something good for humanity and for life, the same energy they apply to steal."