Approximately 24 students have trashed Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi’s Adelaide office, protesting against his stance on the Safe Schools Program.

The students, who stormed his office chanting and scrawling slogans on both the exterior and interior walls of the office, also overthrew furniture and threw papers onto the floor.

In a tweet, Senator Bernardi said the protesters “threatened his staff”.

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He said it was unfortunate he was not in Adelaide to “assist his amazing team”.

“Gutless actions like this will never stop me speaking the truth,” Mr Bernardi tweeted.

Senator Simon Birmingham also slammed the protesters, calling them hypocrites.

“I have seen some of the pictures from Adelaide and for people who say they are standing up for tolerance and for understanding to then think that destruction of public property, that violence of that manner is appropriate, is deplorable, is hypocritical,” he said.

“I would have hoped we would see much better, indeed from all sides.”

The program, according to the website, offers resources and support to equip staff and students with “skills, practical ideas and greater confidence” to create a safe and inclusive environment for same-sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse students, staff and families.

Coalition MPs indicated earlier this week they would push for an inquiry into the anti-bullying program.

Senator Bernardi said some of the material in the program was “age inappropriate” and would “horrify parents”.

He claimed the “innocuous-sounding” Safe Schools program actually provided links to sadomasochism sites and encouraged 12 and 13-year-old children to experiment sexually.