plundering

After the fall of the Iraqi regime, the country has witnessed a wide range of plundering and looting. Such shameful actions extended to public as well as personal property. We would like to know the legal ruling on plundering such as was done by Iraqi people. Does it incur the prescribed penalty (hadd) of stealing or that of highway robbery (hirabah)?What is the appropriate way to correct such deeds? Should looters return the illicitly-obtained things? And where and to whom should they return public and governmental property, so long as the whole regime has fallen? Can we consider this case of looting and plundering in Iraq to be a case of necessity?