A foot-long alligator was found underneath an escalator of the Chicago's O' Hare International Airport on Sunday.

According to airport authorities, the gator was likely taken to the airport via train and abandoned after its proprietor realized the animal wasn't going to be able to travel with him due to airport security restrictions.

"We don't know where it came from or how long it'd been residing in the airport facilities," said Chicago Police spokesman Jose Estrada. "It's one of those random incidents."

Passengers spotted the alligator under an escalator around Terminal 3 and told airport security about the wild animal.

"Figured somebody was messing with us," said Anthony Oliver, Chicago Police Officer.

The alligator will be treated for six months because the former owner wasn't reportedly feeding it well. It will go to a reptile park aftwerwards.

In Illinois is against the law to keep an alligator as a pet.