Disputed youth center in Copenhagen being demolished

Demolition crews on Monday started tearing down a disputed youth center that was at the heart of recent street riots in Copenhagen.

Danish television station TV2 showed a crane with a wrecking ball starting the demolition of the graffiti-sprayed brick building, from which police evicted squatters on Thursday.

Workers wore face masks under their helmets, and company logos on their equipment was covered to conceal their identities for fear of retaliation, the AP says.

More than 600 people have been arrested since Thursday, after clashes that started when a police anti-terror squad evicted squatters from the so-called Youth House in Copenhagen's Noerrebro district.

The building for years has served as a popular cultural center for anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups. The squatters considered it as free public housing, but courts ordered them out after the city sold the building to a Christian congregation.

TV2 footage showed the wrecking ball smashing into the four-story building, with police vehicles in the background.