A Maine fishing town has been left shocked after smirking tourists were caught stealing a lobster catch.

Maine woman Lindsay McDaniels was stunned to find that the haul she had worked all day to collect had been cruelly stolen by two men. 

McDaniels reported 30 of her lobsters missing from a dock in Northeast Harbor on July 24, claiming that the thieves stole her catch worth up to $500.

She makes a living trapping lobsters off of Mount Desert Island. 

Security footage from the harbor shows two men grinning while walking off with a basket containing the lobsters at 6.15pm the day before. 

McDaniels shared a screenshot taken from the video to Facebook.

'It appears they are from away. We could not get the license plate. I have spoken with many fishermen to see if they got the wrong lobsters, that has not been the case,' she wrote.

'They did walk both dingy docks and had two big laundry baskets and made a phone call after finding my crate and continued looking for more. Then loaded it up and left.

'Either way if they had it arranged or not they should have made sure it was the right crate. Hoping to still locate them and get this solved. 

McDaniels said she has been living in Mount Desert Island since the early 2000s when she attended College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor.

She originally figured the theft was an accident. 

'I am a woman lobsterman who fishes with my 16-year-old daughter... I'm optimistic that between the authorities and the online support from the community we can get to the bottom of this,' she added in the post.

McDaniels reported the stolen lobsters to the Mount Desert Police department, who are currently leading the investigations with the aid of the Maine Marine Patrol. 

She also pleaded with anyone with information to come forward to either herself or the police. 

McDaniels said she had to face strong winds and rough currents to replace the lobsters and make sure she fulfilled her orders after her catch was taken.

Mount Desert Island is a popular summer tourism destination.