A man who has been living illegally in a makeshift shack under a Gardiner Expressway off-ramp for the past eight years was removed from his home Wednesday morning by police officers.

Two dozen protesters chanted "Leave them alone! It's Chris's home!" as police officers cut through the fencing surrounding the area and moved in to remove the man and several supporters from the site.

The 44-year-old man living in the three-room house he built from scrap wood was issued a notice by the city's transportation services department last Friday. It warned he would be removed from the building if he failed to vacate by noon Wednesday.

The notice stated that if Chris, who sometimes uses the last name Gardiner, did not take down the structure by noon Wednesday, city officials would move ins o they could perform work on the expressway's concrete pillars.

In the end, seven Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) activists, who showed up to support Chris's decision to stay, were taken away in police wagons, as was Chris, carried out of the shack by officers.

OCAP member Gaetan Heroux accused the city of consistently harassing, evicting and ticketing the homeless and not properly addressing the problem.

"If you ask many of us what has changed since [Premier Dalton] McGuinty, since [Finance Minister Greg] Sorbara came in — if you were to ask us, nothing has changed. In fact, things have gotten worse for us," he said.

City officials denied Heroux's accusations and said places are available for those who want them.