ATHENS – Violence at some Greek universities where a minority of students are protesting plans to allow private colleges to operate has gotten worse, with clashes with police in Athens and Thessaloniki.

There was an eruption of trouble at the Agricultural University of Athens in the Votanikos district in the early morning hours of Feb. 25, said state broadcaster ERT, when about 40 people attending a concert set fires and threw stones at passing vehicles.

Riot police forces swiftly intervened, deploying tear gas and chemicals, while firefighters extinguished the blazes although it wasn’t said why the trouble broke out or if any groups took responsibility.

There were also violence incidents around the same near the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece’s second-largest city, the school a hot spot for frequent trouble and takeovers of buildings.

A group of hooded individuals attacked police with Molotov cocktails and stones, setting fire to construction machinery, vehicles and trash bins and police detained eight people before letting them go.

As in the Athens school violence, it wasn’t said what prompted the trouble and clashes with police. The New Democracy government had trained 400 special guards to monitor universities but shelved the plan.