Parents have hit out at an Iowa middle school principal after he abruptly cancelled a pizza party organized for a class of hard-working students.

Principal Thomas Hoffman reportedly left one of his teachers 'in tears' after he called off the celebration at Brody Middle School in Des Moines on Thursday, which the educator paid for herself and had been promising her students for three months.

KCCI reports that one irate parent, Neil Erickson, took to Facebook to vent his frustrations, penning a post which has now been shared thousands of times.

Erickson wrote: 'My son attends Brody Middle School here in Des Moines. His class earned a pizza party that I believe the teacher paid for. He has been excited for this for days…telling me about it and how they earned it.

'Well today was the day. The pizzas were delivered to the class… the teacher paid and signed the receipt. Principal walks into the classroom and says 'I never approve pizza parties' or something to that effect'.

Principal Thomas Hoffman (pictured) reportedly left one of his teachers 'in tears' after he called off the pizza partuy at Brody Middle School in Des Moines on Thursday

The pizzas had already arrived in the classroom when the principal informed his teacher that she could not have the celebration with her students

He continued: 'He took the pizzas from the kids and let them sit in the office for the teacher to pick up after school. Now my son and his classmates lost the party they worked hard to earn and the pizza I'm sure is wasted now…and the teacher was left in tears. I just cant believe it!'

Dozens of people responded to the post, criticizing Principal Hoffman, with one even comparing him to the Grinch for calling the party so close to Christmas.

However, there were others who appeared to defend the head of the school for calling off the celebration.

'Maybe the teacher should have gotten permission before she did it, that would have made sense to me,' one wrote.

On Thursday evening, Hoffman released a statement obtained by KCCI apologizing for the party's cancellation, claiming that he believed he was acting in the best interest of all students.

Neil Erickson (pictured) was one of the Brody Middle School parents left irate after principal Thomas Hoffman cancelled a class pizza party on Thursdya

Erickson (left) said he 'could not believe' the way his son's principal reacted

'I know that many of you are upset about reports of a classroom pizza party, and the pizzas being taken away. I fully understand.

'As principal, one of my top priorities is fairness and equal opportunity for our students at Brody Middle School. That applies to everything from the chances they have to learn in the classroom to rewards and recognitions by our teachers and staff. We have discussed this from time to time as a school, and have agreed that fairness is a criteria we want to follow in how we treat all Brody students.

'However, I do want to apologize for being overly strict in applying that standard today when it came to one of our classrooms. Most of all, I want to apologize for disappointing any of our students, and punishing them.

'I understand that many people have been talking about having pizzas delivered to Brody tomorrow. If that's the case, we'll gladly welcome any donations, and arrange for a nice sendoff for our 700 students on the last day before Winter break.'