It happens to the best of us

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671

Also, you'd want to put in a double dash to signify the end of arguments as otherwise someone could set VAR="--no-preserve-root " and truly trash the system. Also, ${VAR} needs to be in double quotes for something as dangerous as a "rm" command:

    rm -rf -- "${VAR}"/*