An anti-referendum protestor (L) holds a placard reading in Spanish "Catalonia, germ of Spain" while a pro-referendum demonstrator holds his nose while showing a paper sheet reading inCatalan "Here smells of Franco" in Barcelona on Sept. 27, 2017. (AFP/LLUIS GENE)

MADRID, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Catalan Regional Prosecutors office has ordered the region's police force (Mossos d'Esquadra) to seal off schools that have been designated as polling stations in Oct. 1 independence referendum which has been declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

The order came late Tuesday night and followed an earlier command for Mossos to visit schools in the region to take the names of the person responsible for the buildings and take away any material which could be used to facilitate the vote.

The new order means the police will take the keys to the schools and seal off the buildings from Friday evening when classes are over until 21:00 p.m. Sunday.

The Prosecutor has also ordered the police to stop anyone attempting to vote within a radius of 100 meters of any polling station, adding that if the Mossos are unable to complete this task it should be carried out by local police or by Civil Guards or Spanish National Police.

Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump gave his support to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in his efforts to prevent the independence referendum. During Rajoy's visit to Washington D.C. on Tuesday, Trump said Spain was "a great country and has to stay together."