The 35-year-old man was locked out of a park building in Connecticut on Saturday night when the doors automatically locked at 10pm.

He was apparently trying to re-enter the building via the chimney to retrieve his dog when he became stuck.

Park officials discovered the man on Sunday morning and reported him to police as a burglar, WCSC-TV reports.

Firefighters were called to the scene and rescued the man, who was reunited with his unharmed dog.

The rescue allegedly caused between $5,000 and $10,000 worth of damage to the fireplace.

“If he had just contacted police in the first place, we might have been able to avoid the situation,” a park official said.