Many historic buildings in the city were damaged by the depredations during the war.

depredations 是名词 depredation 的复数形式，来自拉丁语 depraedari（掠夺）。前缀 de- 表示"完全"，praedari 意为"掠夺"，合起来指"大规模的掠夺破坏行为"。这个词通常用于描述战争、自然灾害等造成的系统性破坏和掠夺行为。