The Marysville Public Schools superintendent was addressing upset students on Twitter Tuesday morning after a mishap at the high school's graduation ceremony.

During Monday's ceremony several graduates were wearing a small red heart sticker on their graduation caps in honor of their late parents. The students were asked to remove the sticker by a staff member in an effort to "keep everything uniform and consistent," according to a statement by Superintendent Shawn Wightman.

One student posted to social media that the faculty member "approached me SECONDS before walking and in a very rude and uncompassionate manner told me I had to remove it ... even with the explanation and tears streaming down my face on my graduation day."

Wightman tweeted his statement as he was addressing upset students on social media:

The Times Herald reports a parent of one of the students made the original suggestion that they do something to honor their late parents during graduation.

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