More unfortunate kitchen capers. When my spouse pulled off the paneling, we found a literal hole in the wall, likely caused by a long ago flood. It looks like the former DIYers went with a cover up instead of repair!
Picture (by Jeremy Henderson) of a kitchen wall during demolition. Removal of paneling reveals thick wall adhesive and flood damage at the base of the wall, including an actual hole in the wall.
Rita E. Gould: An Artful Sequence of Words 