The Council of State headquarters in Athens was raided and vandalised on Monday afternoon after being set upon by some 70 members of anarchist group, Rouvikonas.

As a result, the exterior of the building and lobby were damaged, with windows broken, black paint thrown on surfaces, and the metal detector machine was amongst things destroyed.

Only one police officer was on duty at the time, and was said to have remained seated the entire time, with additional police arriving onto the scene once the perpetrators had fled, said to have moved on to Exarcheia.

Rouvikonas together with anarchist groups Anarchist Collective of Nea Filadelphia and the Free Initiative of Thessaloniki claimed responsibility for the attack, which they claimed was in response to the proposed controversial new cuts to pensions, which the Council of State was conducting a hearing for during the attack.

It is not the first attack of its kind initiated by Rouvikonas. Since 2015 the group has led dozens of raids and vandalised a number of sites including state offices, financial agencies, embassies, media and other businesses.

Meanwhile the Hellenic Police (ELAS) has come under fire, with many questioning how the group was able to gain access to the main entrance without intervention.

According to reports, one of the more prominent members of Rouvikonas had announced an upcoming raid on his Facebook account just hours before the incident.

President of the association of ELAS special guards said that the anarchist group’s activities are an “embarrassment to the state and the force” while speaking on radio on Tuesday morning.

The video below was published on Rouvikonas’ Facebook page on Tuesday, and includes footage from the raid.