[vasquez]

4) They were on a power trip and looking to destroy things for the sake of it, just to make some point. 5) Extending their "field time" for personal reasons, e.g. because it pays really well. 6) The people in question were just completely clueless about hardware.

[dfox]

It seems to me that they simply destroyed everything that contains the word "programmable" in it's description, including switching regulator that is "programmed" by choice of external resistor.