This was NOT a legitimate in-character act of aggression. There's nothing legitimate about this.
This is an obvious case of harassment: a real person dying of cancer. A real person. There are no in-game excuses for this. No in-character reason for it. They did it to troll a dying man and the community; they did it for the giggles and for the real-life infamy, to hurt people on a personal level.
It doesn't matter that the mechanics exist in the game, what matters is the INTENT. They did it on purpose to harm human beings, not video game characters.
It's low. It's despicable. No excuses. The trolls must be banned, period.
You are so right and this game would be much better off without those pathetic children in it.