A drive-by shooting in Perth’s south has been connected to a break-in at a car yard only days earlier, with two men stealing licence plates in a bid to cover their tracks ahead of the shooting.

Police said about 1.45am on Thursday, September 13 last year, two men drove a silver hatchback to a car yard on Dixon Road in Rockingham.

The men entered the yard and took the number plates off a car before returning to their vehicle and driving away.

Police say the number plates stolen from the car yard were then put on a Toyota Kluger SUV, which was later used in a drive-by shooting on Summerton Road in Calista.