A Northern California family victimized in a burglary a few days before Christmas is hoping to at least get their dog back.

The Lancers lost all of the presents under the tree along with their dog when their home in Morgan Hill, southeast of San Jose, was broken into last week, authorities said Sunday.

"It's a very unfortunate thing that somebody would steal from a family, especially at this time of year," said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza.

Attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful, but Chris Lancer made an emotional Christmas Eve appeal on KNTV-TV, pleading for the return of the family's dog.

"Bring the dog back, please," he said. "It's my daughter's dog. I won't say nothing if you just bring the dog back."

The family returned home Wednesday evening and found the front and back doors open and several gifts, worth about $600, missing, as well as the family pet, Cardoza said.

Cardoza said he did not know the breed of the dog or its age, but described it as a "small dog."

No suspects have been identified, but investigators said they were able to gather fingerprints from the home. The prints will be sent to a lab for analysis this week, Cardoza said.