HUNTINGTON BEACH Members of the Occupy O.C. movement are expected to ask the City Council on Monday to allow them to set up camp in the city.

On March 6, some of the members started a peaceful demonstration near City Hall at Yorktown Avenue and Main Street, but were asked to relocate a few days later near the beach because of the heavy traffic coming from Huntington Beach High School, according to Police Chief Kenneth Small.

The group, which seemed to dwindle in size after the move, then set up a day camp at Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

A man sleeping under newspapers and a woman with electric red hair playing the guitar were the only members manning the new camping spot on Wednesday.

According to the group’s Facebook page, it has 86 supporters.

Small said members of Occupy are expected to attend the City Council meeting Monday to request a camping permit.

The Orange County version of the Wall Street movement started in Irvine in October, where members stayed for 12 weeks. They then moved to Fullerton in January. The group set up an overnight camp in both cities.

On March 5, Occupy OC announced that it wanted to make Surf City its next home.

Small said after the announcement was made, the group contacted the city and it seemed members wanted to cooperate with city staff.

A recent post on the group’s Facebook page shows some members may be worried about a vandalism incident that may have included some Occupy OC members, and how that might affect their reputation and dealings with the city.

A Facebook user by the name of Greg Diamond posted a lengthy account on Thursday that described the vandalism of a Huntington Beach bank.

“If it was people from our encampment, this breaks our five-month record of never having done things like this and it hurts our ability to get situated in HB and elsewhere,” he wrote. “We should figure out how to make it right.”

Police are investigating the vandalism that happened at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Chase Bank, 16917 Algonquin St.

They have not confirmed if there is a connection to the Occupy movement, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O’Brien.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher@ocregister.com

“Like” Huntington Beach Wave on Facebook to see more news, photos and conversation.