Beijing — Past and present students at Peking University joined together over the weekend to denounce the institution’s decision to demolish the well-known Democracy Wall, a symbolic center of protest on the campus that dates back decades.

The university defended the move, saying the wall had long since ceased being a site for the exchange of real ideas, and had become instead a patchwork of bulletin boards laden with advertisements. Critics said that the destruction was an attack against the university’s long tradition of free expression.

The wall had a long history. It was a center for political gatherings during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), drew protesters during the 1989 student movement, and attracted demonstrations again in 1999, when students went there to condemn NATO’s accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

The site’s destruction was hotly discussed on the university’s online bulletin board, and students, alumni, and tourists traveled to the campus on Saturday to take pictures of the demolished wall. —Paul Mooney