Occupy D.C. protesters spent Monday night huddled under the celestial sweep of a blue tarp they had erected in McPherson Square, talking, singing and, yes, sleeping — in defiance of rules that prohibit overnight camping in the park.As morning dawned Tuesday, a contingent of Park Police arrived to ask the protesters to remove the “Tent of Dreams” they had draped over the park’s statue of Civil War Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson in an act of civil disobedience, marking their displeasure over the National Park Service’s new crackdown against camping on federal land.

By late Tuesday, the Tent of Dreams had ripped and slipped in the wind but remained mostly in place. The protesters spent hours debating whether to take it down and finally told police they would — if officers allowed them to continue sleeping in the park.