Who cakes drywall mud on a support column?

While doing some demolition, I discover that the flipper framed lumber around a support column that was bigger than the lumber, leaving no room for drywall. So the flipper caked huge globs of drywall mud onto the column itself. In some places, the mud is over 1″ thick. As it dried, the moisture in the mud started rusting the support column.

Lumber framing around a basement support column.
Drywall mud over 1 inch thick caked to a basement support column.
Drywall mud improperly used on a basement support column.
Drywall mud was applied to this steel support column causing it to rust. Thick chunks of the dried mud have been broken away from the column and lay on the basement floor.