Yesterday, other animal-rights activist groups distanced themselves from Justice Department's most recent activities.

David Barbarash, a member of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), said he neither "condones these activities [nor]believes in violence."

"I do, however, understand the frustration that motivates them, that frustration being based in the slow pace of animal liberation movements," Barbarash added.

Steven M. Wise, who will be teaching a course on animal rights law in the spring at Harvard Law School, also condemned the group's acts.

"The actions taken by Justice Department are not something that any responsible animal rights activist groups should have taken," Wise said. "They are counter-productive to the objectives of animal activists group, and not mainstream of animal rights groups."

This is not the first time that animal rights groups have campaigned at Harvard's facilities.

This past summer, six different HMS research facilities were included on the 1999 Freedom Primate Tour, an event sponsored by several animal-rights organizations to raise awareness on the use of primates in experimentation.