Tens of thousands of demonstrators yesterday gathered on the Japanese island of Okinawa to protest against the heavy United States (U.S.) military presence there.

BBC reported that the protestors are angry after a former U.S. Marine employed as a civilian worker was arrested over the rape and murder of a local 20-year-old woman.

The case has intensified longstanding opposition to the military bases, spurring calls for U.S. military personnel to be moved off the island.

There are 26,000 U.S. troops on Okinawa.

They work and live on bases that cover a fifth of the island and are a key part of the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

The demonstration yesterday began with a moment of silence for Rina Shimabukuro, the murder victim, and a message from her father.

“Why my daughter, why was she killed?” said the message, read on his behalf. “My thoughts are the same as those of all the bereaved families that have met with suffering up to now.”

Protestors waved placards reading: “Our anger is past its limit” and “Pull out the Marines”.

Chihiro Uchimura, 71, told the AFP news agency: “I’m filled with sadness and I really don’t want any more victims.”

“As long as there are U.S. military bases this kind of incident will continue to happen,” she said.

A simultaneous demonstration was held outside the Japanese parliament in Tokyo.

A 32-year-old U.S. civilian working at the base was arrested last month in connection with the murder of Shimabukuro.

The demonstrators called for the scrapping of plans by Washington and Tokyo to move a major U.S. Marine facility in the centre of the island to a more remote area.

Okinawa’s Governor Takeshi Onaga, who attended the rally, is opposed to the plan and wants the base removed entirely.

The decision to move the facility was sparked by the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. servicemen in 1995.

But the plan has been delayed by local opposition and legal manoeuvring.

Okinawa was under U.S. occupation for 27 years, following World War Two

Nearly 100,000 people joined a protest in 2010 against the construction of the new base off the northern coast.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned that the behaviour of its troops on the island could jeopardise support among Japanese for the security relationship.

Washington has imposed restrictions including on off-base alcohol consumption after an intoxicated sailor injured two locals while driving this month.