Even so, the men kept digging illegally, and in August 1935 with three months left on their lease, they broke into the burial chamber – and proceeded to plunder it. They removed thousands of objects, making no attempt to document the site or its holdings. Skeletons were tossed carelessly to the side, broken fragments of conch shells piled up like snow, and cedar poles used to build the chamber and carry the dead were burned as firewood.