Widespread protests focused on countering China's quasi-colonial reign over Hong Kong continued over the weekend, as demonstrators began to take aim at the city's widespread surveillance infrastructure, The Guardian reports. 

Organizing in response to reports that Chinese authorities are using smart lampposts to collect personal information, including facial recognition data, on Hongkongers, protesters over the weekend trained their efforts on removing some the city's new smart city infrastructure as local police fired tear gas. Australian news outlet ABC News reports that 400 of the smart lampposts are due to be installed in four of the city's urban districts, including 50 lampposts in the Kwun Tong area, the site of this weekend's protests. During a march this weekend, protestors used electric saws to destroy several of the lampposts, while others topped the lights with ropes. 

Protestors in Hong Kong are cutting down facial recognition towers. pic.twitter.com/bTvb8uis7V
— Jordan Sather (@Jordan_Sather_) August 24, 2019

According to The Guardian, Hong Kong authorities claim that the lampposts are being installed only to monitor traffic and collect data on air quality, weather, and other everyday factors. 

"Hong Kong people's private information is already being extradited to China," organizer Ventus Lau told ABC News, however.