According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main Islamist faction which led the uprising that toppled President Assad on Dec. 8, said foreign fighters had been detained over the incident, BBC reported.
Another video footage following the incident showed a religious leader from the ruling HTS holding up a cross in sign of solidarity and promising the crowd that tree would be restored by morning.
The protests come a little over two weeks since the toppling of Assad’s government on Dec. 8.
European leaders have welcomed the end of Assad’s regime as a “positive development” for Syria and vowed to work together with the new leadership to protect the rights of Syrians and prevent terrorism from rising in the area.