A US woman has been charged with theft after CCTV footage was released of her removing a stuffed toy from a 14-month-old baby’s grave.

Frieda Kay Shade handed herself in to police in Ontario, Ohio, after the video, which can be viewed above, was used in an appeal for information, reports the New York Daily News.

In the clip from April 19, Shade is seen picking up the toy from the grave of 14-month-old Hayden ‘Tank’ Cole Sheridan, before she looks around and walks away.

According to the newspaper, the 54-year-old claims she was trying to save the yellow stuffed animal from a marauding dog.

But police have charged her with theft.

The New York Daily News reports that Shade’s attorney’s defence argues that a video does not show what a person is thinking.

The baby’s parents contacted Ontario police because several items had disappeared from their son’s burial plot.

A hidden camera captured several incidents, including the removal of solar-powered night lights, but the images were too dark to identify the thief.

Video credit: Ontario Police