Hong Kong climbers are worried for their safety after police removed bolts and anchors in popular mountaineering spots.

Bolts and anchors — normally screwed into the rock face as a source of protection for climbers — were recently sawed off in crags on Beacon Hill near Shek Kip Mei and Devil’s Peak near Yau Tong, according to local climbers. The damage on Beacon Hill was confirmed when the Apple Daily visited in mid-August.

Large protest banners have been spotted on the two mountains, alongside the iconic Lion Rock, dozens of times in the past few years. Days before the annual march on July 1, police had also asked the Fire Services Department to remove an anchor on the east face of Lion Rock.

The removal was to “safeguard public safety and protect climbers’ lives,” Hong Kong police said in a Facebook post on Monday. They said the bolts and anchors were installed illegally and had caused damage to the natural environment.

Police did not respond to speculation that the removal of bolts and anchors in those crags was to prevent the hanging of protest banners in the post.

Climbers said the sharp edges of the sawed bolts could cut their climbing ropes and lead to serious accidents.

Liu Hiu-ying, a sport climbing coach associated with the local mountaineering and climbing union, said some climbers might not know the bolts had been damaged before embarking on that route.

She said normally when a bolt was removed, the cut surface would be sanded so climbers and their ropes would not be accidentally cut.

A climber told Apple Daily that he saw armed police on Beacon Hill on Aug. 15. He asked them if they were climbing there, but was told that they were there for training purposes. He said the officers stayed in the crag for over five hours.

When Apple Daily visited Beacon Hill two days later, they found broken screws and used saw blades on the ground. At least four bolts were damaged, exposing sharp cut faces. One of them was cut right through the middle.

Climbing bolts and anchors are usually set up spontaneously by mountaineers and maintained by the local climbing community. Lion Rock is one of the oldest crags in Hong Kong, with some routes first established in 1958.

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