Why is the root logger collecting all log types regardless the configuration?

I am having problem that even though I specify the level to ERROR in the root tag, the specified appender logs all levels (debug, info, warn) to the file regardless the settings. I am not a Log4j expert so any help is appreciated.

I have checked the classpath for log4j.properties (there is none) except the log4j.xml.

Here is the log4j.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE log4j:configuration SYSTEM "log4j.dtd">
<log4j:configuration xmlns:log4j='http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/'>


    <!-- ============================== -->
    <!-- Append messages to the console -->
    <!-- ============================== -->


    <appender name="console" class="org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender">
        <param name="Target" value="System.out" />

        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <!-- The default pattern: Date Priority [Category] Message\n -->
            <param name="ConversionPattern" value="[AC - %5p] [%d{ISO8601}] [%t] [%c{1} - %L] %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="logfile" class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender">
        <param name="File" value="./logs/server.log" />
        <param name="MaxFileSize" value="1000KB" />
        <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="2" />
        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <param name="ConversionPattern" value="[AC - %-5p] {%d{dd.MM.yyyy - HH.mm.ss}} %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="payloadAppender" class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender">
        <param name="File" value="./logs/payload.log" />
        <param name="MaxFileSize" value="1000KB" />
        <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="10" />
        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <param name="ConversionPattern" value="[AC - %-5p] {%d{dd.MM.yyyy - HH.mm.ss}} %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="errorLog" class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender">
        <param name="File" value="./logs/error.log" />
        <param name="MaxFileSize" value="1000KB" />
        <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="10" />
        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <param name="ConversionPattern" value="[AC - %-5p] {%d{dd.MM.yyyy - HH.mm.ss}} %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="traceLog"
        class="org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender">
        <param name="File" value="./logs/trace.log" />
        <param name="MaxFileSize" value="1000KB" />
        <param name="MaxBackupIndex" value="20" />

        <layout class="org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout">
            <param name="ConversionPattern"
                value="[AccessControl - %-5p] {%t: %d{dd.MM.yyyy - HH.mm.ss,SSS}} %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="traceSocketAppender" class="org.apache.log4j.net.SocketAppender">
        <param name="remoteHost" value="localhost" />
        <param name="port" value="4445" />
        <param name="locationInfo" value="true" />
    </appender>

    <logger name="TraceLogger">
        <level value="trace" /> <!-- Set level to trace to activate tracing -->
        <appender-ref ref="traceLog" />     
    </logger>

    <logger name="org.springframework.ws.server.endpoint.interceptor">
        <level value="DEBUG" />
        <appender-ref ref="payloadAppender" />
    </logger>

    <root>
        <level value="error" />
        <appender-ref ref="errorLog" />
    </root>

</log4j:configuration>

If I replace the root with another logger, then nothing gets logged at all to the specified appender.

<logger name="com.mydomain.logic">
    <level value="error" />
    <appender-ref ref="errorLog" />
</logger>