A riot breaks out in a Brooklyn synagogueNew York, when a group of Orthodox men tried to stop police and construction crews from covering up a secret tunnel who illegally dug to reach a closed women’s bathroom.

Believed to be mostly teenagers and in their early 20s, they were filmed tearing down wood panels and wooden support beams Monday at the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights, reports The New York Post.

The leader of the synagogue, Rabbi Yosef Braun, has condemned those involved and claims that they came “ready to destroy and deface the Holy Walls”, calling it “amazing”.

Members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement were reportedly digging a tunnel beneath the Crown Heights synagogue for nearly a year, the New York Post reports.

It was apparently designed to reach a mikvah (or ritual bath) abandoned around the corner and “expand” the synagogue, according to the Jewish outlet Forward, but it is unclear what motivated community members Chabad-Lubavitch to start digging the step.

The tunnel was finally discovered last month when neighbors reported suspicious noises coming from beneath their homes, reports Israel National News.

After the discovery, the synagogue leaders called engineers structural to assess the damage and this Monday they arrived concrete mixers to refill them, which caused the riots.