CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's prime minister has been hit on the head with an egg and a woman was knocked off her feet during a protest ahead of a general election next week.

The egg appeared to strike Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the back of the head on Tuesday then bounce off without breaking as he spoke to voters at a hall in the regional town of Albury.

A woman bystander was knocked to the floor as security guards grabbed a 25-year-old woman who is accused of throwing the egg.

Morrison helped the woman to her feet. He later suggested that the protester was part of a militant movement that raids farms that it accuses of cruelty to animals.

Police later said in a statement the protester had been taken into custody.