EXCLUSIVE

Kanye West fell victim to a thief who made off with a bunch of gear from his creative studio ... and we're told the culprit could be someone 'Ye knows.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they got a call to Kanye's Calabasas office Tuesday for a burglary. We're told a door had been pried open overnight and the crook made off with a bunch of laptop and desktop computers totaling around $20k.

Our Kanye sources say they've already replaced the gear ... and no info was compromised thanks to some heavy-duty tech security.