Hong Kong protesters set fire outside court buildings, threw petrol bombs and spray-painted graffiti on government buildings, marring what was otherwise a “generally peaceful” march over the weekend, police said on Monday.

The comments came as protesters called for strikes across the city on Monday. During the early morning rush hour most railway and transport links were running smoothly and there were no initial reports of widespread disruptions.

Vast crowds of black-clad demonstrators thronged the streets of the Asian financial hub on Sunday, in the largest anti-government rally since local elections last month and a resounding show of continued support for the pro-democracy movement.

“Some rioters spray-painted the exterior walls of the High Court, threw petrol bombs and set fire outside the High Court and the Court of Final Appeal, damaging government properties and seriously challenging the spirit of the rule of law,” police said, adding that shops and banks were vandalised in the Causeway Bay and Wan Chai areas.

“Many residents in Hong Kong are fed up with the violence and disruption that have plagued the city for months. The record turnout for the district council elections showed they want to express their views peacefully,” said the newspaper, often used by Beijing to put its message out to the world.

Hong Kong’s new police commissioner had said he would take a “hard and soft approach” to the demonstrations, where acts of violence would be treated harshly but other issues more flexibly.

What started as demonstrations against a now-withdrawn bill allowing extradition to mainland China has morphed into calls for greater democratic freedoms and sometimes violent protests.The former British colony has enjoyed relative calm in the weeks since the elections.