Belgians experienced a weekend of hyper-vigilance, as those in the capital city of Brussels were placed under the highest level of terror alert possible.

Despite warnings, the escalating terror level did not faze the Belgians, who took to social media en masse to deflate the air of tension in their country with cat pictures and memes.

On Monday, Brussels' schools, universities and subway system remained closed, as the manhunt for suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam went on.

The BBC reports that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel described the threat level following the Paris attacks as serious and imminent. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, Michel said his nation was at a level four terror alert.

“This is the result of relatively precise information of a risk of attacks, similar to those that took place in Paris,” the prime minister said.

Belgians posted cat pictures with the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown in an effort to show their solidarity and strength amid the terror alerts, adding a bit of hillarity to the tense situation.

The whimsical feline photos began appearing after Belgian federal police made a request on Twitter for the public to keep silent about the nation's counter-terror operations on social media, as this might bring unwanted attention to police movements and hinder police work.

The cat memes showed various felines with guns and even acting out Star Wars scenes.

The above tweet reads: "lolcats or censorship?"

The online levity was taken in good spirits by the Belgian authorities. On Monday, they posted a large bowl of cat food and thanked the cats for their help.

French authorities say that the Paris attacks were organized in Belgium. As CNN reports, Belgian authorities carried out around 20 searches Sunday, and 16 people were arrested. No firearms or explosives were found.