if the building is unguarded and full of valuable items, someone will loot it. if you're the one that loots it, you get to decide what happens to them. if you don't, someone else will
Eeeeh, I think there is a more good-faith take on the events. My personal take is that they were just trying to do the meatspace equivalent of a bug bounty, without even attempting to touch or take any items.
Kinda like how, typically, you would be incliner to file user bugs and report any vulnerabilities you find in a product you care about. Despite having zero monetary incentive to do so (more often than not).