Hundreds of Los Angeles police officers dismantled tents and arrested protesters who had camped out on the City Hall lawn for two months.

Police moved in at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday (3:30 a.m. ET). About an hour later, the park was cleared and closed for cleanup

Officers took several protesters into custody, but authorities did not immediately provide an exact figure.

"It's gone fairly peacefully," police spokeswoman Mitzie Grasso said.

During the raid, more than a dozen protesters sat in a tight circle in the middle of the park with their arms linked. Some cried. Some wore masks.

Officers in riot gear and armed with batons closed off streets around City Hall. They used bullhorns to warn the scores of agitated Occupy LA protesters to disperse.

"This has been declared to be an unlawful assembly. You have seven minutes to gather your belongings and decide to leave," one officer said.

A white police truck drove through the center of the park, announcing orders to disperse in English and Spanish.

Some campers left willingly. One carried a skateboard under one arm and what looked like a rolled-up sleeping bag in the other.

Officers were met with profanity but no violence.

"This is what a police state looks like!" some of the protesters chanted.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the police action was "a measured approach to enforcing the park closure."

On Sunday, he gave the group a 12:01 a.m. Monday deadline to take down their camp, saying "an encampment on City Hall grounds is simply not sustainable indefinitely."