Thousands of protesters who support Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi burned down a Coptic Orthodox Church in Sohag on Wednesday, according to eyewitnesses.
The protesters also set fire to a police car and seized weapons belonging to army soldiers in the Upper Egypt governorate, their actions came after the security forces began their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood's protest camps in Cairo early on Wednesday.
The Security Directorate in Sohag announced its maximum state of alarm following the attack on a police car, whereas the protesters closed all the roads leading to the city council.
The police fired teargas to disperse the Islamist protesters, who have also set fire to a tourists bus outside the church and vandalized shops owned by Christians.