Boston is also supposed to be a place to cultivate new players. Yea, Salem is a harsh world and we all like it that way but there needs to be an area safe enough from griefers that new players can actually learn how to play the game before/while learning its harsh realities so that we can pick on them later, after they actually have lots of things for us to take!

Out in the wild, the purchased items are fair game, but if a centralized town is going to be used for distribution of purchased items, there absolutely cannot be a way to lose them right then and there from a griefer. Scypheroth wouldn't be the only one who would quit, I would imagine.
So my point is, town should be made safer from griefing and as suggested previously, I believe that there should be no looting around towns.