Hanoi - Hundreds of Catholics massed Friday in downtown Hanoi, singing and praying, after the government sent construction equipment to clear a disputed property next to the city's cathedral.

Priests said construction crews arrived at 4 am Friday to break down walls and clear structures on the site of Hanoi's former papal nunciature, next to St Joseph's Cathedral in central Hanoi.

Parishioners and priests staged a months-long vigil on the site last winter to demand the land be returned to the church.

"At 4 in the morning, about 200 police and two construction machines appeared at the site," said Father Nguyen Van Khai, a priest from neighbouring Thai Ha parish who is staying at the cathedral. "At about 4:30, they destroyed the wall and the other monuments on the site. They are blocking the whole neighbourhood. We cannot go out."

Since 8 am, several hundred parishioners have gathered in the street in front of the site, watched by a nearly equal number of uniformed and plainclothes police. A foreign journalist photographing the site was told to leave and threatened with detention.

Last December the city's archbishop led hundreds of parishioners in a vigil on the site of the nunciature that lasted several months. Parishioners built a shrine to the Virgin Mary and for a time erected a cross on the site, and parishioners camped there every night.

The vigil ended with an agreement between the Hanoi city government and the parish to negotiate a settlement. Priests said they had not been informed by the government in advance of this morning's moves.

A restaurant on the site's property, which the parish had asked be cleared, was being renovated Friday morning, and a new sign on the front declared it would become a local government community centre.

"We are fighting for peace and justice," said Khai. "We are ready to die."

Khai said he thought the government planned to turn the site into a park.

Vietnamese government officials were not available for comment on the incident. (dpa)