When £2.5m of rare books were stolen in an audacious heist at Feltham in 2017, police wondered, what’s the story? Historically, book thieves have come in two varieties. First, there are the rogue custodians, those who exploit their privileged access to literary treasures. Then there are the academics – or, at least, those who profess an academic interest in the texts they go on to steal.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/13/tome-raiders-solving-the-great-book-heist