A massive stuffed bruin is once again watching over Coal Harbour after being returned by a "bearnapper" with an apology.

Leroy, a 5-foot toy black bear, has watched over the Vancouver harbour from the patio of his owners' apartment for 11 years.

The bear is so well-known that he's become an unofficial mascot for the neighbourhood, posing for passersby from his perch during nice weather.

But the Coal Harbour fixture went missing from his place of prominence earlier this month when he was "bearnapped" by a man and woman as they walked by the balcony.

Leroy's owner checked with the building's strata, and found that the bear burglars were caught on surveillance camera walking away with the giant toy. So the owner, Bruce Kaufman, sent the surveillance camera video to CTV News.

Still photos from the video were shared on social media, and the owner's plea was read by the man who took the bear.

Last week, Kaufman received a letter and a poem from the thief, who apologized for his "absolute abhorred and deplorable, subhuman selfishness.

"Bruce, I am infinitely sorry for having to write this letter at all," the man wrote.

"For the sake of my soul I can't bear to wait any longer."

He said he'd been having trouble sleeping since taking the bear, and that his guilt was "crushing (him) as though (he) was at the bottom of an ocean trench."

The letter writer apologized for what he called the "biggest mistake" of his life, calling it a "drunken and ridiculously stupid endeavor to impress a girl," on a dare.

"I am so so SO sorry Bruce. I'm sorry for everything Bruce, all of the pain that I have caused you, the feeling of insecurity in your own home, the loss of faith in your fellow man," he wrote.

He said that the woman in the video had the bear, but was on a cruise ship at the time, so it could not be returned until she got back. The theft had occurred about an hour before she boarded the ship, he said.

"The bear, as I'm writing this, is currently sailing on a cruise ship, but please I assure you, I pledge to have this bear by your side, home where it belongs, as soon as possible," he wrote.

"Remorsefully and enthusiastically yours, the misguided and foolish bearnapper."

And Leroy did come home, after the cruise, and was back to lounging on the Coal Harbour balcony on Monday morning.

Leroy's bear-napping is the second teddy abduction with a happy ending that has been reported in Metro Vancouver in recent weeks.

Last month, a similar-sized toy named Bearamel Macchiato was taken from Creekside Coffee Factory in Coquitlam.

The afternoon theft was captured on surveillance camera, and the 5-foot-9 teddy was returned a week after the incident.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Sheila Scott