A hitchhiking robot that relied on the kindness of strangers to travel the world was found with its head and arms ripped off, just two weeks into its first American tour.

The child-sized robot, known as hitchBOT, was found damaged beyond repair on the streets of Philadelphia early on Saturday. It had earlier hitched across the entire of Canada for 26 days and completed a hitchhiking adventure through Germany.

The robot started its journey across the USA on 17 July in Salem, Massachusetts and visited Boston and New York City before being found dismembered on the streets of Philadelphia. A photo on Twitter showed hitchBOT lying in the dirt with its head missing and arms ripped off.