SFSU student Orlando Schuler studies at the Occupy SFSU encampment in the university's Malcom X Plaza Dec. 5. Photo: Hang Cheng / Golden Gate Xpress

Occupy SFSU protesters packed up their camp and cleared out of a San Francisco State University plaza Wednesday — under the watchful eyes of campus police officers in riot gear.

Occupiers received an order to disperse immediately shortly after midnight Wednesday morning. They were still dismantling the camp at 5 a.m. when about 50 police officers showed up, according to one witness.

“At that point there were about 10 of us left there,” occupier and SFSU philosophy student Terence Yancey told the student news publication Golden Gate Xpress.

The encampment was erected in Malcolm X Plaza Dec. 1, and many protesters left once fall classes ended. But university authorities said there were worried about health and safety issues over the winter break and decided the encampment had to go.

According to an Occupy SFSU website, “Most of the communal and personal property (books, tents, sleeping bags, etc.) has been safely moved to an offsite area for storage.”

No arrests or detentions were reported.

Yancey told the San Francisco Examiner that Occupy protests would return to campus after the winter break.

“We’re going to pick up where we left off next semester,” he said.