Originally Posted by
Mnemnosyne
Even ignoring the paladin's code, it's not too reasonable that most good characters would be inclined to ignore someone indiscriminately stealing. Stealing from a merchant can cause them serious harm - if you steal an expensive magical item from them, this may cause their business serious harm. Perhaps even make them go bankrupt, if enough of their capital was invested in it. Would any good character be ok with making innocent people lose large quantities of money, possibly lose their business? It might be justifiable if this was the only way to stop some greater problem, but in the case of just random indiscriminate theft, it's certainly not justified.