The tale of a cat who sits faithfully waiting for its family to come back to the spot where it was abandoned has captured the hearts of internet users.

The sad story was posted on Vkontakte (Russian Facebook) by user Ostap Zadunayskly, where he compared the cat’s plight to that of Greyfriar’s Bobby, a Skye Terrier who spent 14 years guarding his owner’s grave.

He first spotted the cat in Belgorod, south-west Russia, in summer 2015, and soon realised that it sits in exactly the same place every day.

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Ostap asked around and was told that the cat’s owners used to live in the area but sold up and moved out some time ago.

The story gets a bit over the top here; someone told him that they’d seen the cat running after the car when they drove off (not very cat-like behaviour) and that the cat has been waiting at the same spot for them to return “for years” (sure).

Locals have taken to feeding the cat, which might be a more credible explanation for why it stays put.

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Mr Zadunayskiy said: “This is a great example of human meanness and true animal loyalty.“

Many Internet commenters quoted from the book The Little Prince, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, saying, "You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed."

Or for what you’ve started feeding.