Police disperse Occupy Frankfurt camp (PHOTOS)

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Published time: August 06, 2012 19:53
Edited time: August 07, 2012 02:32

Police have cleared an Occupy Frankfurt camp after ten months of demos outside the European Central Bank headquarters.

­Barricades were set up around the camp as police asked people to leave voluntarily, forcibly removing those who sat down instead.

The protesters have been next to the European Central Bank since last October, demanding that authorities to put an end to social and economic inequality.

The camp had an infrastructure system that included recycling bins and portable toilets, with demonstrators’ numbers’ dwindling in recent months, despite 40-60 of them staying at the site.

However, police say most of those people were homeless, with the camp having little to do with the actual protest.

The break-up of the camp follows a court ruling on the matter, which barred the Occupy protesters from remaining on park territory owned by the city.

Instead, demonstrations were allowed on the adjacent public square next to the ECB, but tents were banned.

Demonstrators are outraged over the officers’ actions, describing them as “totally over the top.”

"The evacuation violates the constitution and the right to assemble. We will take this to a higher court," 24-year-old protester Maike Wolf told AP.

The demonstrators have been given two weeks to appeal the ruling.

A protester of the "Occupy Frankfurt" movement wearing a Guy Fawkes mask stands next to the Euro currency sign sculpture in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt August 6, 2012 (Reuters / Alex Domanski)

A protester sits next to police officers at the "Occupy Frankfurt" camp as they remove tents at the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt August 6, 2012 (Reuters / Alex Domanski)

Police officers remove a protester of the "Occupy Frankfurt" camp near the Euro currency sign sculpture in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt August 6, 2012 (Reuters / Alex Domanski)

Police close down the occupy camp in front of the European Central Bank ECB in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on August 6, 2012 (AFP Photo / Daniel Roland)

Police close down the occupy camp in front of the European Central Bank ECB in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on August 6, 2012 (AFP Photo / Daniel Roland)

Police close down the occupy camp in front of the European Central Bank ECB in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on August 6, 2012 (AFP Photo / Frank Rumpenhorst Germany Out)