left|thumb|French troops execute a Boxer One newspaper called the aftermath of the siege a "carnival of ancient loot", and others called it "an orgy of looting" by soldiers, civilians and missionaries. These characterisations called to mind the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860. Each nationality accused the others of being the worst looters. An American diplomat, Herbert G. Squiers, filled several railway carriages with loot and artefacts. The British Legation held loot auctions every afternoon and proclaimed, "Looting on the part of British troops was carried out in the most orderly manner." However, one British officer noted, "It is one of the unwritten laws of war that a city which does not surrender at the last and is taken by storm is looted." For the rest of 1900 and 1901, the British held loot auctions every day except Sunday in front of the main-gate to the British Legation. Many foreigners, including Claude Maxwell MacDonald and Lady Ethel MacDonald and George Ernest Morrison of The Times, were active bidders among the crowd. Many of these looted items ended up in Europe. The Catholic Beitang or North Cathedral was a "salesroom for stolen property".Chamberlin, Wilbur J. letter to his wife (11 December 1900), in Ordered to China: Letters of Wilbur J. Chamberlin: Written from China While Under Commission from the New York Sun During the Boxer Uprising of 1900 and the International Complications Which Followed, (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1903), p. 191 The American general Adna Chaffee banned looting by American soldiers, but the ban was ineffectual. According to Chaffee, "it is safe to say that where one real Boxer has been killed, fifty harmless coolies or laborers, including not a few women and children, have been slain".
left|thumb|French troops execute a Boxer One newspaper called the aftermath of the siege a "carnival of ancient loot", and others called it "an orgy of looting" by soldiers, civilians and missionaries. These characterisations called to mind the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860. Each nationality accused the others of being the worst looters. An American diplomat, Herbert G. Squiers, filled several railway carriages with loot and artefacts. The British Legation held loot auctions every afternoon and proclaimed, "Looting on the part of British troops was carried out in the most orderly manner." However, one British officer noted, "It is one of the unwritten laws of war that a city which does not surrender at the last and is taken by storm is looted." For the rest of 1900 and 1901, the British held loot auctions every day except Sunday in front of the main-gate to the British Legation. Many foreigners, including Claude Maxwell MacDonald and Lady Ethel MacDonald and George Ernest Morrison of The Times, were active bidders among the crowd. Many of these looted items ended up in Europe. The Catholic Beitang or North Cathedral was a "salesroom for stolen property".Chamberlin, Wilbur J. letter to his wife (11 December 1900), in Ordered to China: Letters of Wilbur J. Chamberlin: Written from China While Under Commission from the New York Sun During the Boxer Uprising of 1900 and the International Complications Which Followed, (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1903), p. 191 The American general Adna Chaffee banned looting by American soldiers, but the ban was ineffectual. According to Chaffee, "it is safe to say that where one real, Boxer has been killed, fifty harmless coolies or laborers, including not a few women and children, have been slain".