Burglars stole thousands of dollars of computer and camera equipment early Monday morning from the home office of a local author and blogger while he and his wife were downstairs asleep.

"I just couldn't believe it happened while we were here," George Johnson said Tuesday.

As editor of the Santa Fe Review, a Web blog, Johnson has kept a video camera aimed at the spot near his home where fashion mogul Tom Ford is building a large house. That image is now frozen at 12:05 a.m. Monday because that's when the thieves stole the camera, according to an e-mail message from Johnson.

In addition to the Ford webcam, the burglars stole a brand-new Apple Mac Pro computer, two display monitors, two digital cameras, a digital recorder, an iPod, a cell phone, two older monitors, a copy machine and, perhaps worst of all, his backup hard drive and backup power supply, he said. The total value of the items was about $7,000, Johnson said.

"The worst part is you have your whole life on your computer," he said.

The burglars entered the office — which is not connected to the downstairs living area — through an open bathroom window and left through a door that leads to a creaky walkway above his bedroom, Johnson said. He and his wife heard nothing, he said.

Johnson — a former New York Times science writer who now freelances for the paper — said he believes the thieves had cased his home before the break-in, perhaps gleaning clues to its layout from his online postings.

"They really seemed to know what they were going for," said Johnson, whose most recent book is titled The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments. "If you looked at this house from the street, you wouldn't say, 'That's where the money is.' "

Still, while replacing the items is a hassle, Johnson said he expects his insurance to cover the losses and plans to eventually reinstall the Ford webcam.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.