An Occupy Boston protester carries away a bag of belongings before a midnight deadline set by Boston Mayor Tom Menino for the group to leave its encampment in the city on Thursday December 8, 2011.
An Occupy Boston protester carries away a bag of belongings before a midnight deadline set by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino for the group to leave its encampment in the city on Thursday. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

An estimated 40 Occupy Boston protesters were arrested by police at their former campsite early Saturday, according to The Boston Globe.

Those arrested had ignored an advisory to vacate the premises by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who on Thursday ordered the protesters to clear the campsite by midnight, after a judge ruled they did not have the right to occupy Dewey Square in the city's financial district.

Despite the deadline, police did not take steps to forcibly remove the protesters until about 5 a.m. EST on Saturday, the Globe reported.

By Friday morning, Reuters reported, the number of tents pitched on the public park had shrunk by at least one-half, with a number protesters still packing up and sweeping the area as they sought to avoid the arrests that came Saturday morning.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, begun in the financial district of the borough of Manhattan in New York in September, spread across the country during the autumn, with camps mushrooming in many cities, which have since been engaged in dismantling them. The protesters are calling for economic justice for average Americans.

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