This is the moment an armed crook sneaks into a home where the family are sleeping and then goes over the Christmas tree to see if anything valuable has been hidden in the boxes underneath.

The footage was shot in the early hours of the morning at the property in Cottonwood, Arizona in the US when the person who the family did not know sneaked in through an unsecured door.

At the time, there were a husband and wife sleeping in their bedroom with two large dogs and their 12- and 14-year-old daughters sleeping in another bedroom.

The burglar was armed with a pocket knife and prybar and stole several thousand dollars. He was inside the home for approximately eight minutes before exiting via the front door.

After further investigation it could be assumed the suspect was aware of the location of the items he came to steal.

Cottonwood Investigators are asking for help identifying the subject who was captured on several cameras while inside the property.