LADUE, Mo. (AP) — A prestigious Missouri college preparatory school has expelled the students who exchanged a series of racist, profane and sexual Snapchat messages that were leaked to the public.

KTRS Radio reports that Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School Head of School Lisa Lyle said in a letter Thursday that the students were removed. She wrote that their conduct violated "deeply held values," was contrary to the school's mission and significantly harmed the school community.

The private school in Ladue began investigating after a student posted screenshots of the messages on Snapchat on Sunday. In the messages, at least three different people used an offensive racial slur against African-Americans. Another user asked if anyone knew how to submit an application to the Ku Klux Klan.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the messages were posted to Snapchat, not Twitter.

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Information from: KTRS-AM, http://www.ktrs.com