I asked Seratt something similar about this part and he said something along the lines of it's intended for griefing, not really stealing.
Notice the new IP policy. How you must pre-approve using multiple accounts on the same IP. If you get a town thief, report that it could be someone on an un-approved alt account. This will stop 77.777% of thieves.
Also consider the mayorship discounts on LWCs that are in the works. Good things are coming. I'd rather mayors were given these discounts to give out LWCs than putting dirt on chests, it's truly is un-realistic. I recommend getting a secret chest room. You are protected against griefing in your own town, use it!
So there are more perks to being a wealthy and prospering town, LWCs for all! It makes the new township system more hardcore IMO. Towns not doing so well won't be able to afford cheap LWCs for all its members, which leaves them open to thieves. I've always liked how the hardcore nature of this server makes it so not only nothing is free, but doing well gives you rewards you don't normally have in other servers/SSP. So these new rules are both blessings and curses. You don't really get what we all wanted, an end to town thieves, we just get a new perk for doing well, which stops town thieves at the same time
