The Couleur Art Gallery at Östermalm in Stockholm was subjected to a burglary early on Thursday. According to the gallery's owner, several works by Salvador Dalí have been stolen. The likelihood that the art, worth millions, is found depends, among other things, on what kind of thief it is.

"There are different types of perpetrators of theft," said Maria Ellior, police commissioner and national coordinator of cultural heritage crimes at the Police National Operations Department.

1. The thoughtful

On the one hand, there are the less well-planned offenses, which appear to have been committed on filing, in order for the perpetrator to become aware of the value of the works. The national regalia stolen in Strängnäs cathedral is an example of when thieves may have taken the items without really knowing what to do with them.

- In that case, there seemed to be poor planning, says Maria Ellior.

Valuable art is often sought internationally and it is not uncommon for pictures of all works to be found at Interpol. It can make the works more difficult to sell, and in the case of the stolen national regalia they were also later found, dumped in a garbage can.

- It wouldn't surprise me if the Dalí sculptures show up on the first page of Interpol, where everyone can see that they are stolen and wanted, says Maria Ellior.

2. The specialists

Another kind of thief is the exact opposite, well-planned and with a large network. The thefts at the Thielska gallery in 2000 appear to be an example of when the theft was carefully planned. The robbers escaped by car and must have had a boat waiting. The total value is estimated to be SEK 25-30 million and none of the works have been found today.

- For it to be any idea to steal precious art, you have to know that you can get any provision for it and it's quite complicated. You should have a network of criminals with healers who specialize in this, may already have a client when the crime is committed.

How likely is it to find stolen art?

- The police have managed to get stolen art back in many cases, so you should not exclude it, says Maria Ellior.