Government officials orchestrated a violent attack on the Catholic monastery of Thien An, in Hué province, on June 28, the AsiaNews service reports.

A group of about 100 people, including police officers wearing plain clothes, broke into the monastery, knocked down a cross, and assaulted monks. Meanwhile uniformed police blocked local Catholics from the monastery,

The Thien An monastery has been the focus of a protracted legal dispute, with government officials attempting to seize the property and the monks arguing that the government’s claim to the property is illegal. A similar violence incident occurred almost exactly a year ago, on June 26, 2016, when police raided the monastery.