A Denver Public Schools student’s painting of a police officer wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood while pointing a gun at a minority child has been removed from a display at the city’s Webb Building.

The piece, created by a 10th-grader at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, was part of a public school art show in the building’s lobby. It was one of dozens of pieces of art, including photography, sculpture, video and drawings.

The image stirred outrage from some corners, especially among the city’s law enforcement community.

“This is not freedom of expression but an attempt to peddle hateful and racist trash as art! It is a racist message against police officers!” Butch Montoya, a former Denver safety manager, wrote in an e-mail to The Denver Post.

Others saw the piece as a healthy, creative way for a teen to express herself and her life’s experiences.

“I can see why this reflection was scary to them,” said Louise Martorano, executive director of the nonprofit art center RedLine. “At the same time, it should be taken with compassion and understanding the importance of what she’s seeing in the world.”

Martorano didn’t think the display in the Webb Building, which houses multiple city offices, was inappropriate.

“The building represents the people. It’s supposed to represent the many voices in our community,” she said.

The painting was removed Wednesday morning at the student’s request.

“After learning of the negative impact of her work, the student has asked that it be taken down,” a statement from the city and public school system said.

Nancy Mitchell, a Denver Public Schools spokeswoman, said a meeting between the student, her parents, Mayor Michael Hancock and Police Chief Robert White was postponed because of the blizzard. They now plan to meet Friday in private. Afterward, the chief and mayor will make statements, but the student doesn’t wish to speak.

The student has expressed concern about the anger surrounding the painting, Mitchell said.

Sonny Jackson, a Denver police spokesman, said Wednesday the chief would reserve comment until he has met with the student. But in an earlier statement, White was quoted as saying, “I’m greatly concerned about how this painting portrays the police. I look forward to having a conversation with the student and her parents.”

The student created the piece as part of a class project. Students were asked to choose a master work of art, research it and portray it in a new context to reflect contemporary times, according to the Denver Public Schools statement.

The student chose the Spanish painter Francisco Goya’s “The Third of May 1808,” which shows Napoleon’s soldiers pointing guns at fearful Spanish people.

The student’s work also was heavily influenced by Michael D’Antuono’s 2014 work “A Tale of Two Hoodies,” which shows a hooded officer pointing a gun at a young, black child wearing a white hoodie and holding a bag of Skittles.

The controversy over student art work portraying police violence is not isolated to Denver.

In February, a similar drawing of a police officer pointing a gun at a black child drew complaints at a Goshen, Ky., high school where the picture was on display in an honors English class. The school did not force the teacher to take it down.

A Nevada high school teacher was put on administrative leave in January after she had students write a critical analysis of the “Tale of Two Hoodies” painting during a final exam.

And in May, a New Jersey high school’s art department was criticized when it set up a two-day art gallery for student works that included the theme, “Law Enforcement — Police Brutality.”

Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips