Dog stolen from Melbourne yard returned

A staffy stolen from a South Melbourne front yard has been returned to her owners, but police are still searching for the dognapper.

Ava was reunited with her owners on Monday night after being found by a member of the public, four days after she was taken.

The thief scaled a fence between 12.30pm and 1.15pm on Thursday June 20, before taking Ava on the 109 tram at Port Melbourne towards the city.

Police are still looking for a man with dark hair and a short beard, who was last seen wearing a black jacket and grey tracksuit pants and black sneakers.