A group of California high school students appeared to do the Nazi salute while standing around cups arranged in the shape of a swastika, according to social media photos of a party that have sparked an investigation.

School officials in Newport Beach confirmed that the authorities were investigating “students who created inappropriate antisemitic symbols” after images went viral over the weekend showing about a dozen students smiling next to red plastic cups displayed as a swastika. The scandal in southern California follows a string of recent cases involving antisemitic and racist vandalism and other forms of hate speech involving American schools and students.

“Our community is, of course, repulsed by it,” Martha Fluor, the vice-president of the local school board, said in an interview on Monday. “It’s history repeating itself. We need to step back and make sure the lessons we are teaching our students in high school are embedded in tolerance … and valuing diversity.”

Ava (@itsavarose_) Scrolling through Snapchat and see this from a Newport high school party. Absolutely disgusting. pic.twitter.com/PLuFS0s9Lp

The images from a party, which was not on school grounds and not a sanctioned event, started spreading on Saturday after outraged people began posting screenshots from Snapchat. One photo published on Twitter showed students raising their cups above the swastika and another showed a group of them around the table laughing and smiling as they appeared to do the Nazi salute. Captions on Snapchat said “ultimate rage” and “German rage cage”.

“While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of antisemitism and hate in all their forms,” a Newport-Mesa unified school district spokesperson said in an email. “We continue to gather information regarding the conduct of these students and work with law enforcement.”

The statement added: “We remain focused on educating students on all aspects of life’s challenges and are committed to holding students accountable, educating them on the consequences of their choices, and the impact these actions have on our schools and community at-large.”

Fluor said the district would consider disciplinary action and was working with police, noting that the photos also appeared to display underage drinking. She said the reaction from some in the community was that the incident was “just a prank” and that the students didn’t understand the meaning of their actions. But she said it was important to recognize the “hate and the intolerance and bigotry that was displayed” in the photos.

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Noting that the district has roughly 22,000 students, she added, “This is a very, very small percentage of our students who exercised very poor judgment.”

Last year, a group of junior high school students in California were caught making a human swastika with their bodies. The Anti-Defamation League recently reported that antisemitic incidents have surged to the highest level in two decades, and documented more than 450 incidents in K-12 schools in 2017.

Newport Beach is located in Orange County, a region south of Los Angeles that has historically been much more conservative than the Democratic strongholds throughout California. The area has also experienced a high rate of anti-Muslim hate incidents.