Thousands of national guard soldiers, who had been instrumental in maintaining peace during President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, were on Thursday forced to vacate the Capitol Building and sleep in a garage. The guards were asked to leave the Capitol building and move into an unheated Senate garage on Thursday, Politico reported. Washington on Thursday recorded temperatures as low as -2 degrees Celsius.

The incident came two weeks after the forces pulled security duty during the January 6 deadly riots at the Capitol building.

“Yesterday dozens of senators and congressmen walked down our lines taking photos, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service. Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us and banished us to the corner of a parking garage. We feel incredibly betrayed,” Politico quoted a guardsman saying.

According to the report, the guards were allowed back into the building on Thursday night.

Two other soldiers who talked to NYT on the condition of anonymity alleged that the troop members were relocated without any prior notice and had to stay without adequate heat, power or restroom facilities. One guardsman said that the parking garage had no internet reception, just one electrical outlet and one bathroom for 5,000 troops.

Soon after the images of soldiers sleeping in garage facilities surfaced online, several lawmakers including House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among others, took to Twitter to denounce such treatment by Capitol officials and offered help to the relocated soldiers.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy also assured that efforts were being taken to resolve the situation.

The troops were part of the 20,000-member team that had been stationed across Washington in light of security threats ahead of the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.