A well-known South Whidbey community activist and blogger became a victim in a string of burglaries that’s hit the area in recent weeks.

Carolyn Tamler and her husband returned to their Freeland home after a short vacation Dec. 2 and realized they had been burglarized after walking into their bedroom.

Two jewelry boxes were missing as well as four of her husband’s watches.

They called the Island County Sheriff’s Office in the morning and Lt. Evan Tingstad immediately responded to their home. He informed them that they weren’t alone, but that a burglar ­— or possibly a team — has been hitting homes in isolated areas of South Whidbey.

Undersheriff Kelly Mauck reported that the department has received 16 reports of residential burglaries on the South End since Nov. 1.

During the same period last year, only two burglaries were reported.

“That’s a significant increase,” he said.

Tamler wrote about the burglary on her blog, which she said “went viral” on South Whidbey.

Many people are worried about the increase in break-ins, she said.

“There is a lot of shock and disbelief that crime has come to Whidbey Island,” she said.

Tamler said Tingstad told her that the burglars are probably residents of Whidbey Island who know where to find out-of-the-way homes to target.

The burglars didn’t damage anything in Tamler’s home. She said they probably got into her house through a door that wasn’t deadbolted.

“It’s kind of a wake-up call for all of us,” she said.