Rioters in Hong Kong descended on a shopping mall on Tuesday evening and torched its giant Christmas tree following a protest in the city’s financial district.
Police officers fired tear gas at demonstrators, who reacted by hurling bricks and gasoline bombs.
Reuters reported that the tree at Festival Walk shopping center in Kowloon Tong was later set on fire and photos showed a man trying to put out the flames with a hose.
The vandals smashed glass panels at the entrance of the shopping center and damaged the office lobby and balustrades on multiple levels, Singapore-based Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust Ltd, which owns the facility, said in a statement on Wednesday. The center was closed on Wednesday.