Police broke up a student protest supporting ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi.

The interior ministry told the BBC they were responding to a request from university authorities for help in containing the protest. The pro-Morsi students had been holding protests for weeks.

The move against the students came hours after the arrest of Essam al-Erian, the vice chairman of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

The students reportedly invaded the university’s offices and ransacked them before the police arrived at the campus. Photos on social media showed graffiti and damage to the university’s offices.