Hong Kong police on Tuesday fired tear gas and retook control of the city’s Parliament after thousands of demonstrators occupied and ransacked it, AFP reported. The protests began on Monday during the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule.

Thousands of people in Hong Kong took to the streets on Monday. This was the latest in a series of protests against an extradition bill that could send Hong Kong citizens to China for trials. The Hong Kong government has agreed to suspend the bill indefinitely, but rallies have continued amid calls for Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign.

Lam condemned the demonstrations on Tuesday, calling them “extreme use of violence”. “I hope the community at-large will agree with us that with these violent acts that we have seen, it is right for us to condemn it, and hope society will return to normal as soon as possible,” BBC quoted her as saying.

Anti-government protestors in Hong Kong had stormed the Legislative Council building on Monday and painted the walls of the main debating chamber with graffiti. The protestors also hung a British colonial-era flag on the main podium. Demonstrators also broke through the glass door of the building, shouting slogans.

Legislative Council President Andrew Leung on Tuesday called the vandalism a “big crime scene”. “Right now, LegCo [Legislative Council] is a big crime scene,” CNN quoted Leung as saying. “The priority of LegCo is to get in shape to have meetings. It will be very difficult to use this venue for LegCo.” He added that the police were in control of the building and were carrying out investigative work.

The Chinese government also criticised the protestors. “Some extreme elements used excessive violence to storm the legislature building and carried out a series of large-scale assaults,” The Guardian quoted a statement from the government. “This is shocking, heart-breaking and angering. Their violent acts are an extreme challenge to Hong Kong’s rule of law and seriously undermined Hong Kong’s peace and stability. It is totally intolerable.”

The statement added that the China liaison office supports the Hong Kong authorities in their investigation of the violence. Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council also issued a similar statement saying that it supports authorities in inquiries on the “violent offenders’ criminal responsibility”.