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Protesters and police clashed in the town of Nagu in southwestern China this week after authorities attempted to partially dismantle a 14th-century mosque in the Muslim-majority municipality, the Guardian reported.

Over the weekend, Nagu officials were set to dismantle parts of the Najiaying mosque after a court ruled in 2020 that some of the structure’s recent additions – including a domed roof and minarets – were illegal and should be removed.

But many of the town’s residents, who belong to the Hui ethnic group, objected to the deconstruction.

Authorities arrested an unknown number of people and ordered protesters to turn themselves in by June 6.

Meanwhile, the unrest was heavily censored on Chinese social media.

The planned dismantling and subsequent violence underscore the ongoing crackdown that the Chinese government has launched against religious groups in an effort to “Sinicize” religion, according to CNN.

The predominately Muslim Hui are China’s third largest minority. They speak Mandarin and are seen as more assimilated with China’s Han majority compared with the Uyghurs – another Muslim minority.

Even so, Hui advocates complain that they have become Beijing’s latest target in its crackdown against Islam that began in the western region of Xinjiang – where most of the Uyghur minority lives.

The ruling Communist Party has been accused of detaining millions of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang, as well as forcibly assimilating them to suppress their cultural and religious identity.

In 2018, hundreds of Hui Muslims staged a sit-in at a mosque in central China to prevent its demolition. The mosque survived but authorities removed many of the domed minarets.