ST. LOUIS -- Two homeless men whose belongings stashed in a small city park were seized and thrown away by park rangers have been placed in housing and appear willing to accept help, the director of a social agency said Friday.

About 10 a.m. Thursday, park rangers brought a garbage truck to Interco Plaza, a small park on Tucker Boulevard, and disposed of a tent, boxes and other belongings of about a dozen people. Rangers have police powers in city parks.

Later that day, Bill Siedhoff, director of the city Department of Social Services, apologized and called the rangers' actions "appalling." Siedhoff said the city procedure is to tell people sleeping in parks after 10 p.m. that they are breaking curfew.

Interco Plaza is next to the St. Patrick Center, which provides meals and services for homeless people. Center employees also criticized the rangers' action.

On Friday, Dan Buck, the center's chief executive, said two men had been living at the park for weeks, while other people had been coming and going. The center's staff found an apartment downtown for one man and is arranging housing for the other. Meanwhile, that second man was in a shelter, Buck said.

Buck said staff members had offered help to the men before, but the two declined it. He said they have expressed interest since Thursday.

In 2005, the city reached a settlement in federal court over its treatment of homeless people. The city agreed then not to "destroy, damage, hide or cause to be abandoned the personal property of any homeless or homeless-appearing person."