SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)--Police say one protestor was arrested Monday night while participating in a  march in San Francisco that vandalized vehicles, businesses and a police  station in the Mission District.

     

San Francisco police responded to the vandalism at the police  station, located at Valencia Street near 17th Street, at around 9:15 p.m.,  police Sgt. Daryl Fong said.

     

He said a large crowd of demonstrators had gathered in front of  the police station and were engaging in civil disobedience and vandalism.

     

The vandals smashed windows and threw paint at the police station  and damaged the property of businesses and vehicles, police said.

     

Protestors dispersed near the corner of 12th and Folsom streets by  11 p.m., Fong said. Details about the single arrest were not immediately  available.

     

Jesse Smith, a protestor with Occupy Oakland, said the evening  started with a peaceful gathering at Dolores Park and he was horrified by the  turn of events.

     

Smith said he was "more than a little shaken" by the vandalism and  did not know who was responsible.

     

"I know Occupiers," Smith said. "None of us have any idea who they  were."

     

The gathering at Dolores Park, a pre-May Day celebration, led to a  march down Mission District streets, Smith said.

     

A small group out of what he estimated to be hundreds of  protestors began smashing "one window right after another," he said.

     

Smith said Occupy organizers, among other activist groups, have  planned a number of family-friendly events and demonstrations for May Day.

     

"I don't know how this is going to affect that," Smith said. "This  is really heartbreaking."

     

The protests came on the eve of a nationwide general strike called  by members of the Occupy movement, unions and activist organizations. 

 

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