BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — The city of Bellingham on Thursday cleared much of a camp outside City Hall where people without permanent shelter had set up tents and were living since mid-November to protest the lack of housing in the area.

Police from multiple agencies arrived and dozens of protesters and campers packed belongings into vehicles, The Bellingham Herald reported.

Protesters chanted, “We protect people, you protect property.” Bellingham Police said while many residing at the encampment left peacefully, several protestors assaulted officers who were maintaining a safety line, police said. City officials said four people were arrested on suspicion of charges including assault and disorderly conduct.

Eve Smason-Marcus, a Whatcom Human Rights Task Force board member and volunteer with the camp, said previously that some 90 to 120 people had been camping there nightly.

Volunteers helped move some of the campers to a nearby parking lot near softball fields maintained by the city Parks and Recreation Department.

Nicole Oliver, director of the department, was on site Thursday and said she asked people to stay on the pavement and told the newspaper, "At this moment, we’re not going to do anything.”

Last Friday, some people against the city’s plans to move the encampment broke a lock on City Hall and entered the building, prompting Mayor Seth Fleetwood to leave. On Friday night, a man was seriously hurt in a hatchet attack, police said. In December, police said a tent was set on fire, which caused propane tanks to explode.

Fleetwood has said he and other local officials have been working with advocates and people in the camp to address short and long-term housing needs. On Thursday he said the city has acknowledged the need and they are making solid and diligent progress.

The city had told residents they would have until Friday to remove their belongings. But Fleetwood said he decided to start Thursday because of credible information that the site was “becoming the target of agitators far more intent on mayhem than working toward any social good” and that certain groups had put a call to gather there on Friday.

“We acted today to reduce the risk of further injury, violence, and vandalism by those who are using the plight of our community’s most vulnerable to further their own agenda,” he said.