Three white boys cut off the dreadlocks of a 12-year-old black classmate at a religious school in the US while insulting her hair and calling her “ugly”, it has been claimed.

The girl told police three classmates held her down, covered her mouth, called her offensive names and used scissors to cut several of her dreadlocks in the playground at Immanuel Christian School in Virginia.

“They were saying my hair was nappy and I was ugly and I shouldn’t have been born,” Amari Allen told The Daily Beast.

The school, where vice-president Mike Pence‘s wife teaches art, said they had asked police to investigate.

Amari’s aunt said it took her niece a few days to tell her about the attack and that she initially kept the incident from teachers because she feared retaliation from the boys, who had been taking her lunch and bullying her for weeks, according the Washington Post.

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WJLA said the schoolgirl’s family met school officals on Thursday, when they were told to pray about the situation but left feeling unsatisfied.

“We take seriously the emotional and physical well-being of all our students, and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of bullying or abuse,” Stephen Danish, Immanuel Christian’s head of school, said in a statement.

“We are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made, and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can.”

Fairfax County Police said they were working with the school to investigate the incident.

The girl’s aunt said she wanted to see the boys punished and that her niece agreed, but still had some sympathy for them.

“I felt hurt and angry, but I also felt compassion for them because something must have happened to them and that’s why they bully,” Amari said.

Immanuel Christian School made headlines earlier this year when Karen Pence, whose husband is known for his religiously-influenced conservative beliefs, joined as a teacher.

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A document issued by the school this year suggested it did not welcome employees who were gay or transgender.

The private Christian school also reserves the right to deny admission to children whose engage in “homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity”, as well as “divisive conduct”, according to its admissions policy.