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At 3:30 a.m., Syracuse police surrounded Occupy Syracuse protesters and began evicting them. More than 15 police cars are on the scene as they round up the protesters, arresting those who were willing to be arrested.

Protester Melanie Digiglio, who happened to be across Salina Street from the encampment when police moved in, filmed the eviction on her iPhone cell phone camera. Police set up a tape and Digiglio was prevented from crossing the street to retrieve her belongings. Salina Street between Washington and Fayette streets has been completely shut down.

Six people were arrested, Digiglio reported. However, she said police were very polite as they approached and arrested protesters. One officer brought bundles of personal belongings across Salina Street to where Digiglio was standing and recording.

As police gathered protesters' belongings, the dog owned by one of the protesters barked mournfully in the 12 degree cold.

At 3:54 a.m., a bulldozer arrived to tear down the structures -- something that Digiglio said Mayor Stephanie Miner said would not happen. While the bulldozer tore down the yurt that protesters built in Perserverance Park, other protesters who didn't want to be arrested stood behind the tape calling people, including Occupy's ACLU representative.

The city sent two large dump trucks along with the bulldozer to take away the debris and belongings. City workers tore down the tents by hand, placing the material in the bulldozer to be placed in the dump trucks.

A notice handed to all protesters said that the encampment was being removed because protesters didn't have permits for tents. The notice also told protesters to pick up their belongings within 72 hours or they would be thrown away. However, as protesters watched, their personal belongings were put in a garbage truck to be carted away.

At 4:15 a.m., Digiglio said about 30 police officers were monitoring destruction of the encampment. More Occupy Syracuse protesters arrived on the scene, some bringing coffee, and stood across the street, watching the destruction. Digiglio said some people were crying as they watched. "I'm too cold to cry," she added.

After struggling for an hour, city workers stopped trying to take down the encampment by hand and began tearing it down with the bulldozer. It took seven city workers to move one of the encampment's bunks to the street so it could be loaded onto a dump truck.

Occupy Syracuse's Ustream feed was picked up and restreamed on LiveStream by Global Revolution and Occupy Earth, and was being watched by about 300 people at 4:45 a.m. Occupy movements from other states and countries, including Utica, Watertown, Iowa and Alberta, Canada, sent messages of support to the Occupy Syracuse members.

The last item to be destroyed, at 5:02 a.m., was a bunk that took 1.5 days to be built by hand, Digiglio said. As the bulldozer crushed the wooden structure, the protesters watching from across the street gave a loud groan. "They tried to tear it down by hand and gave up," Digiglio said.

» See more of Occupy Syracuse's live video page at Ustream.

» See more Occupy Syracuse coverage at Syracuse.com.