I think all inventories get wiped whenever you reload a save. Trees disappear, boxes cleared, water and food also gone every time. Only your own character inventory remains after a reload.
I also got that problem! First time I loaded my saved game, everything was fine, but the times after that all the props in the chests disappeared! Also the trees disappeared! I don't know what other things did.. The chests and the tree on the ground floor do save the props I put in them, maybe because I placed them there before I first saved it.
I hope this problem will be solved soon! I'm new to this website by the way, do I have to visit this website to download updates? Or does the game notify me when there's a new update? Thanks!
- Floss