Image copyright CBS Image caption Alyssa Salgado says her two-year-old daughter, Lilayiah, was missing her "unibrow"

A nursery in the north-western US state of Washington is under investigation after two mothers claimed their children's eyebrows were waxed.

One mother said her girl was missing eyebrow hair and had reddened skin when she picked her up last week.

"I saw she was missing her patch of hair because she has a unibrow and she was born like that," Alyssa Salgado told WLTX News.

The state's Department of Early Learning visited the centre on Monday.

The Boys And Girls Club, which oversees the facility, said in a statement that they "take these these allegations seriously and will work to support the investigation process".

Image copyright CBS Image caption Lilayiah was tearful and had irritated skin on her forehead, her mother said

Ms Salgado said she dropped off her two-year-old daughter, Lilayiah, at the Columbia Basin Community College nursery last Thursday morning.

But when she picked her up, "she had a couple of tears in her eyes" and irritated skin on her forehead.

"It looked like somebody waxed her," Ms Salgado told KNDO News.

Another mother, Glenda Maria Cruz, who said her two-year old boy's eyebrows were also waxed.

She said when she picked up her son he refused to let her touch his face, saying "no, no, stop, it hurts".

Ms Cruz said when she and Ms Salgado confronted the nursery director "she started laughing in our faces".

Officials at the Washington State Department of Early Learning say their investigation could take 30 days to complete.

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