The guilty party also left money for the Guelph family to repair damage to a screen door

A thief in Ontario broke into a home and stole an Xbox and a digital camera worth more than $1,000, but apparently felt remorseful after the crime.

The next morning the family found a plastic bag on the porch containing the stolen items, a note and $50, reports CTV News. The $50 was to pay for damage caused to the screen door during the break-in and the note was a letter of apology and an offer from the thief offered to pay for his crime.

"Dear Family I have wronged. I'm the one who committed the serious crimes against your family and I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart," reads the letter. "It was nothing personal and I didn't go through any of your personal belongings. I have been having a very hard time financially lately and I made the worst mistake of my life. I would also commit to at least 15 hours of community service to partially help atone for what I have done."

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This isn't the first time the police have had to look for a thief looking to repent. Last August a gym bag was returned in Guelph along with an apology note that was sent from "stupid teenagers."

In October, a person stole several items from a Yellowknife convenience store, but returned them the next day after the store's owner contacted one of the suspect's relatives.

And a New Hampshire man stole a 61-year-old's wallet from her purse and eight days later went to the woman's house to drop off the stolen items along with an apology note before running away.

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Police say the letter in the most recent case doesn't change the fact that the person committed a crime and are looking for the suspect, but are glad he or she returned the items.

"Just when you lose your faith in humanity," said Guelph Police Sgt. Doug Pflug to CTV. "Instead of ditching the property in the garbage can, or what have you, they returned it."

(CP photo)