The building in Budapest was headquarters of the Hungarian communist party, from whom the Socialists are descended, and was the scene of fighting in the failed anti-Soviet uprising of 1956. In the foyer, covered with a curtain but polished and adorned with a plastic wreath and flowers, is a plaque commemorating the "martyrs" who died defending the building from "the enemies of the Hungarian people" on Oct 30, 1956.
Many of the demonstrators, who launched a week of anti-government protests after a leaked tape in which Gyurcsany said he and the party had lied about the economy to hold on to power in April's election, have shouted "56, 56".
They also carried the Hungarian flag with the hammer and sickle cut out, as flown in the uprising which lasted from Oct 23 until it was crushed by Soviet tanks on Nov 4.
Other communist-era symbols have also been attacked. During an attack on Hungarian state television on Monday night vandals damaged a memorial to Soviet war dead from the 1945 siege of Budapest when the Nazis were driven out.
