tear at something

The pain in the girl's eyes tore at her heart.

It tore at his heart, but he could see no other way.

A wind of high force might have been tearing at them.

It has torn at me every day of my life.

It was torn down at the turn of the century.

Built in 1837, it was torn down at the turn of the century.

It was the picture of the couple that tore at her heart.

Although I'm not sure it's really necessary for so many of them to be tearing at their hair.

It just tore at me, though, when they brought her in that way.

Many were fighting among themselves in the air, tearing at each other.