Anarchy grips Berlin following raid on famous squat (VIDEO)

Violence erupted between left-wing activists and police in Berlin on June 22 after authorities cleared squatters out of a building on Rigaer Strasse. Masked rioters left a “trail of destruction” in the streets according to German media.

Three cars were destroyed, fires lit in the streets and stones and paint bombs thrown at a district council office by a group of up to 200 activists according to Der Tagesspiegel, with clashes continuing from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Police are reported to have collected stones that were hurled at them in plastic bags in an effort to identify the perpetrators using DNA.

The incidents occurred in the Friedrichshain area of the city, a stronghold for squatters where some of the buildings have been occupied since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Authorities have been battling to take control of the area and on Wednesday 200 police raided the famous Rigaer Strasse 94 building, claiming they needed to clear occupiers out of their home to make way for construction in the area that has become increasingly unaffordable to its residents.

The group Riager94 made an appeal online for anyone wishing to help them remain in their home to use their ‘creativity’ to build up pressure.

In February, activists torched nearly 50 luxury cars and storefronts in Berlin, claiming in a statement that there would be €1 million (US$1.12 million) worth of damage caused per police raid against squats and other ‘projects’ run by anti-capitalist community organizers.

READ MORE: 'Far-left' activists smash luxury cars in Berlin police protest  

Police tweeted images of objects they found during the raid in February that they claimed were dangerous.