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Protesters kettle themselves for fun as the "mockupy" of a Law and Order set is closed down.

NEW YORK — A replica Occupy Wall Street encampment created as a set for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit was swarmed late Thursday night by real Occupy activists.

Rallied to the scene several blocks from Zuccotti Park by organizers using the #mockupy hashtag on Twitter, the protesters showed their resentment over the TV crime drama’s use of Occupy as plot element with chants of “Mock-u-py! Mock-u-py!”

“This is not a cliché,” said one man who declined to give his name. “I’m personally insulted by this, because I was there during the raids.”

Many of the 100 or so protesters who arrived just before midnight in Foley Square seemed to view the imitation camp, and the OWS-themed Law and Order episode itself, as exploitative of the movement. Relatively unguarded, the small-scale arrangement of pop-up shelters, tents, tarps and cardboard was quickly filled with drumming and mic checks, as protesters helped themselves to food from the set’s kitchen and perused publications in its library.

“They’ve delivered us this perfectly wrapped Christmas present with a bow on top: They rebuilt our camp,” Occupy Wall Street organizer Jake DeGroot told Mother Jones. “How could we not go and take it?”

It’s the latest weird mutation of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spawned the Pepper Spray Cop meme and an Occupy Broadway spinoff, as well as numerous protest camps around the country, where people have gathered to show their opposition to bank bailouts and other outrages amidst a deteriorating economic climate.

“I can’t believe how fast this movement has made its way into popular culture,” said 42-year-old filmmaker Renee Renata Bergen at the Law and Order “mockupy.”

About 30 minutes into the bizarre fake occupation, a couple dozen members of the New York Police Department arrived to add more realism to the scene. A representative from the protesters’ legal working group used the people’s mic to inform the crowd that police were closing off the set and that those who remained would be subject to arrest. An officer then announced through a megaphone that the film permit had been revoked, and that there would be no shoot Friday.

Protesters left peacefully, with several taking food and other supplies from the mock kitchen as one woman used the people’s mic to voice her concern that stealing things was not representative of the movement. A couple of them turned around and returned their armfuls of booty, as police erected barricades in front of the scene.

When telephoned for comment about the incident, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment took contact information and sent an e-mail saying, “The production did not have the required rigging permit to begin setup prior to its filming this morning at 8 a.m. For safety reasons, the production was asked to stop their preparations last night while the crowd dispersed. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is working with the production as they begin filming today. The City is currently experiencing record levels of productions, and the local entertainment industry employs 100,000 New Yorkers working behind the camera.”

There was no mention of Occupy Wall Street.

Photos: Dan Glass/Wired.com