Police were out in force this morning in a Komitas Street courtyard in Yerevan where local residents had attempted to block the entrance to a construction site slated for a high-rise building.

Residents say the building, smack-dab in their back yard, is illegal and will ruin the open space now used as a play area for kids and a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of city life.

The following photos show how the new building is literally being squeezed into the area, between the existing apartment houses.

Yerevan police seem more intent to protect the new building from the wrath of neighborhood senior citizens and women.

All this in the name of progress and the protection of private property.