World Photo by Madeline Steege

The inventory at Tower Ford in downtown Coos Bay is going to be better protected, with the installation of a new 7-foot-tall chain link fence.

The fence is being erected by workers from West Coast Fencing, including Justin Wiliker, above, busy working on the job on Tuesday afternoon. According to Chuck Day, Tower's general sales manager, the company hasn't wanted to fence the lots, but damage to vehicles has triggered the decision. Day said, "the last straw was when 13 new trucks were keyed in late December." All the trucks had to be repainted. In the past year, more than two dozen vehicles have sustained damage from vandals after hours on the lots. Tower's business hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.