Austerity protesters take to the Acropolis

About 100 protesters from the Greek Communist Party cut through locks on the gates of the monument and tourist attraction and unfurled the banners in Greek and English reading: "Peoples of Europe – Rise Up."

Police did not intervene as the protesters, carrying red flags, stood beside the ancient Parthenon, next to the two large banners. The demonstrators did not attempt to prevent tourists from visiting the site.

Greece's cash-strapped government has announced spending cuts worth 30bn euro (26bn) through to 2012, to secure a vital rescue package of loans from the International Monetary Fund and the other 15 European Union countries using the euro.

The measures will result in deeper cuts in pensions and public servants' pay, and a rise in consumer taxes.

Public servants, including teachers and hospital workers, began a 48-hour strike yesterday, with protest marches planned later.

Workers in the private sector are due to join them today for a nationwide general strike that is expected to shut down all services across the country, grounding flights and halting public transport.

Shop owners have said they will close their businesses for the day.

Union leaders say the cuts target low-income Greeks.

Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the public servants' union ADEDY, told Mega television: "There are other things the (government) can do, before taking money from a pensioner who earns 500 euro (430) a month."

On Monday protesting teachers forced their way into Greece's state television building, disrupting programming.

With debts of 300bn euro (260 bn) and a budget deficit of 13.6 per cent of gross domestic product, Greece has been struggling to put its finances in order.

It was less than three weeks away from default when the eurozone finance ministers agreed on Sunday to activate the three-year rescue plan by the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.