BBC News with Iain Purdon

Libyan rebels have taken over Colonel Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli after a day of heavy fighting. In a

symbolic

gesture, the rebels

broke off

the head of a statue of Colonel Gaddafi and kicked it along the ground. There were wild celebrations as they

stream

ed in through the gates. The BBC's Paul Danahar was at the compound among the rebels.

I've just climbed over the huge iron gate. I was at the front of the Gaddafi compound, and I'm watching them carrying out

possession

s on their heads. A man was just walking out with the drawer from a shelf loaded with paintings and ornaments and everything else. I just watched another man carrying out something like crystal jugs. So they are basically going room to room and ripping to shreds any symbol of Gaddafi they can find, and they are taking what they probably think is

rightfully

theirs and that is the wealth that he's accumulated over the 42 years of his rule.

The whereabouts of the colonel and his family are still unknown. But Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council, says the rebels' capture of the compound is hugely symbolic.

"Bab al-Aziziya is the last stronghold of al-Gaddafi, and it has a great symbol - this is the place where(when口误) Gaddafi was issuing his criminal orders around the country; this is the symbol of al-Gaddafi.

To get over it is a great