VALLEY ART THEFTS CONFORM TO TREND; L.A. BECOMING TARGET FOR HEISTS.

Byline: Theresa Moreau Daily News Staff Writer

Art thieves have hit three times in the San Fernando Valley in as many weeks - absconding with more than $770,000 in fine art, authorities said Tuesday.

Investigators said the thefts are not related, but they reflect an increase in art theft in Los Angeles and worldwide.

``L.A. is becoming more important as an art center,'' said Los Angeles police Detective Donald Hrycyk of the Art Theft Detail. ``And because there have been stories having to do with great auction prices and big acquisitions of items at the Getty, people are becoming more educated with art prices.''

No statistics for art theft were available immediately for Los Angeles, but the Art Loss Register in New York City reports heists have more than doubled in the past six years.

In its current list of stolen art includes 80,000 pieces, up from a reported 35,000 in 1991, according to the Register.

Police urge anyone with information about stolen art to call [phone].

Most recently in the Valley, a 64-year-old retiree reported to police Tuesday that some oil paintings and Lalique glass objets d'art were missing from his storage space in the 7600 block of Gloria Avenue in Van Nuys.

Estimated value: $300,000.

``He came back one day and found out someone had pried a hole through the roof, got inside and took these paintings and this Lalique glass,'' said Hrycyk.

Only a week before, Hrycyk had received two reports of separate high-priced art thefts.

On June 27, a few lithographs attributed to Spaniard surrealist Salvador Dali were reported stolen from an auction house renting space at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

While certain members in a group of thieves distracted an individual assigned to guard the art pieces, other members then carried off the lithographs, Hrycyk said.

Estimated value: $70,000.

That same weekend, a Northridge home was burglarized, and more than 300 watercolors, oils and gouaches done by various Hungarian artists were stolen - along with the identifying photographs.

Estimated value: $400,000.

Anna Kisluk, director of the international Art Loss Register, suspects that thieves typically are lucky crooks who happen upon pricey items.

``They take paintings off the wall because they know it has a market value,'' Kisluk said.

Recovery rate, Kisluk noted, ranges from 10 percent to 15 percent, with a recovery period ranging anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of decades. ``But the more famous the work is, it increases dramatically the rate that the piece will be recovered,'' she said.