Photos have emerged online showing a rat tied up and "publicly shamed" after stealing rice from a shop in China.

The unverified snaps - posted to the Chinese social networking site Weibo - show the rodent tied by its legs and strapped to four cardboard boxes.

A sign was strapped to its body which reportedly said that it was caught stealing rice from a convenience store.

The photos were taken in Heyuan city in the southern China's Guangdong Province.

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The Weibo user who posted the snaps told the Daily Mail: "A friend of mine found a small rat in the warehouse of a convenience store."

In another photo, the rat has a post-it note attached to its body, which reads: "I dare not do it again!"

The person who posted the image called for the Shenzhen Traffic Police to investigate through his post.

In response to the pictures, the Shenzhen Traffic Police posted three smiling face emojis on its official account on Weibo, the Mail reported.

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