POLICE are hunting for a man who was caught on CCTV throwing a 10-year-old girl to the ground and kicking her in the face before taking off with her iPhone.

The shockingly violent attack took place on May 25 in an apartment building in the Bronx, New York and left the young girl bloody and bruised.

Security footage shows the girl arriving home just before 5pm while video calling her mother on her iPhone 7 plus.

An unidentified man in a dark shirt and white at quietly walks in behind her as she waits for the security door to open.

As she goes to walk through the door the man suddenly grabs her around the neck and they both go out of sight for a couple of seconds. They then reappear and the girl is thrown to the ground.

The man then rips the phone out of her hands and kicks her in the face, breaking her glasses and leaving her covered in blood, before taking off.

The girl’s mum, who did not want to be named, told CBS2 that her daughter came running out of the elevator crying after the attack took place.

“She was bleeding, she had some bruises, and she said, ‘Mummy, they broke my favourite glasses’,” she said.

“I just let her breathe for a few minutes and then I start talking to her.”

“She told me, ‘Mummy, they steal your phone, mummy they steal what I purchased.’”

Her mum said that she didn’t care about her phone being stolen, she just wanted to know who did it.

“I was mad because she’s 10 years old. I’m still mad if I’m being honest, I’m still mad. But I just have to be strong enough for her,” she said.

The girl was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and reportedly still had bruising on her nose and lip several days later.

The mum said the attack has left her daughter scared to go outside by herself and made her fear for her family’s safety.

The NYPD are working to identify the man and have appealed to the public for more information.