Republican Party officials in Colorado claim a racist meme depicting President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee that was posted on a local chairwoman's Facebook page was the work of a hacker.

The image had been posted on the Facebook page of Linda Sorenson, chair of the Delta County Republican Central Committee.

Initially, she told the Big Media website it was a joke.

The image has since been removed, and local party officials now say a hacker did it to make them look bad.

"This whole thing is a hoax. Someone got into the Facebook somehow,” Vic Ullrey, vice chairman of the committee, told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. "It was hacked and somebody got into it, definitely."

Another local official accused a progressive website of planting the image.

"We believe it has something to do with Media Matters. They’ve been harassing her the last few weeks," Sue Whittlesey, DCRCC treasurer, told the Sentinel.

The Sentinel also posted an image of the racist meme as it appeared on Sorenson's Facebook page.

The committee did not respond to requests for comment from The Huffington Post.