MOSCOW (AP) — Protesters on Wednesday scaled one of Moscow’s famed Stalin-era skyscrapers and painted the Soviet star on its spire in the national colors of Ukraine. The dangerous prank, which set Russian social networking sites abuzz, drew a harsh response from the police.

The protesters also attached a yellow and blue Ukrainian flag to the top of the 176-meter (580-foot) building east of the Kremlin along the Moscow River.