How bad of a breach of media ethics is this?

I've been a manager for 15 years at a small hotel that burned down. We are in a remote area in a forest, but we were quite popular with locals and travelers. A large area of the forest burned, and the area was evacuated. The next day reporters and photographers from various newspapers hiked to our private land (the road was closed), and proceeded to witness and photograph the scene. None of them asked the owners for any kind of permission. (The owners weren't even allowed to go to the land,) All of the buildings in our complex are hundreds of yards from the public road. Yet the following day photographs of the burnt ruins, including personal staff housing, were published in the newspapers and on websites.

The owners are too distraught to comprehend this, or take action. I feel they have been violated. How bad of a breach of media ethics is this?