PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela—President Nicolás Maduro’s government deployed 3,000 troops to the southeastern state of Bolivar on Monday after people desperate over the government’s elimination of much of the country’s currency looted stores and homes over the weekend.

The unrest took an especially heavy toll on Chinese immigrants, who own many of the grocery stores in the capital, Ciudad Bolívar, and nearby towns.

“Everything was left in ruin,” said Juan Carlos Ho, standing next to the China Cham supermarket in the town of Sifontes, which had been left gutted. “They took the stands, the carts, all of the merchandise, which was a lot, and the air conditioners.”

China, a key economic ally, on Monday called on Venezuela to protect Chinese immigrants and their property.

“China is very concerned about the development of the situation in Venezuela,” China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a news conference in Beijing.