BEAVERTON, Ore. -- A Beaverton man became one of more than 20 victims in a three-week span to have license plates swiped from cars.

Levi Hansen and his wife moved to Beaverton from Colorado two months ago. On Tuesday night, a thief stole their Colorado license plate from the back of their car.

Hansen said someone may be driving a stolen car with his plate.

"(That) just makes you mad because you're the one that got burned, allowing the thief, the individual that stole the car, to get away with it," he said.

Beaverton police said there were eight cases of license plate thefts Tuesday night. They also said Washington County sheriff's deputies had 12 similar cases.

Police took Hansen's front license plate for evidence. Hansen said he's glad there's no other damage to his car, but he regrets not doing more when he heard something suspicious Tuesday.

"It's quite possible that they were actually there and I saw the thing happening and had no idea what was going on," he said.

Other residents in Beaverton said they're on watch for thieves because of the thefts.

"My Honda got stolen from the Portland State campus and they told me they found it with a stolen plate on it," said Ian Brebner, who lives in the area.

Deputies said there have been 20 reports of stolen license plates in the last three weeks.

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to call police.

License Plate Thefts Rise In Beaverton Area