There’s a professional nail-polish remover on the loose in Manhattan.

A lone, male crook is responsible for at least four heists of Essie products totaling more than $9,000 — and cops have no clue what he is doing with the loot, sources told The Post.

The perp was caught on camera going into the beauty aisle of a Duane Reade at 22 West 48th St., shoveling the color-coded collection of $8.50 bottles into a backpack and taking off.

“This only happens on weekends when I walk out. [He] must know my schedule,” said Cheray Stewart, a 21-year-old employee who runs that branch’s cosmetic section. “I think we are in a bad location, not a lot of staff and no security.”

Her store has been targeted three times this year, starting on Jan. 7 when the thief took off with 192 bottles worth $1,632 at 4:48 p.m.

More than a month later, on Feb. 26, he was back in action — this time heading to the back of the store around 8 p.m. and swiping 338 bottles worth $2,873, his biggest haul from that location.

He took a break from his usual Theater District stomping grounds and instead hit the Duane Reade at 1370 Sixth Avenue on April 2, dumping the 348-bottle collection, valued at $2,958, into his bag.

He returned to the West 48th Street store nine days later, snatching another 186 bottles worth $1,581.

Cops said they are not sure what the thief is doing with his growing stash that now includes more than 1,000 bottles, but Stewart said she has a pretty good idea.

“People take them to resell it,” she said of the polish, which comes in more than 300 different shades with quirky names including Mint Candy Apple, Wicked, A List and Lilacism.

Customers perusing the aisles Monday were baffled by how he was able to get out the door with all the glass bottles clanking together.

“Sounds like it is an inside job to me. You can’t really imagine someone not actually watching,” said shopper Shirley Gross.