Downtown Athens was peaceful on Sunday after another night of rioting at the Polytechnic Institute.

Although guarded by police, the central Christmas tree was still standing in the city's main Syntagma square and men dressed in Santa Claus costumes were seen entertaining children.

After a few days of relative calm, Saturday night again saw clashes between Greek police and rioters at Athens Polytechnic University.

Rioters were seen throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Greek police, as well as trying to disturb officers with green laser pointers, and police responded with tear gas.

Amalia Dafni, a local resident said this year's Athens is quite different from the city in previous years.

"It's not the Athens that we've seen every year. Not the Athens that we know. The Athens we know is much more lively, much more festive. This year it is a cold Athens."

Violence in Greece broke out after the police's fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy on December 6th.

Protests over the boy's death and the increasing economic hardship in Greece have led to the worst rioting the country has seen in decades.

Hundreds of businesses have been smashed, burned or looted, and gangs of youths fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas every night for a week.