OUTSIDE MANCHESTER, NH -- An electronic Mother's Day "card" to U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte is generating some controversy after it was posted on the Londonderry Democratic Committee's website over the weekend.

The post consisted of a page with pictures of the children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn. last year, a reference to Ayotte's recent "no" vote on expanded background checks for gun buys. A reader from Litchfield sent an email to Londonderry Patch on Sunday complaining about the "vile Mother's Day greeting" that the Londonderry Democrats had sent to Ayotte.

Later in the day, political reporter Kevin Landrigan of the Nashua Telegraph sent out a tweet about the posting: "Londonderry NH Democrats may get low class award. Mother's Day card to Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, pic of all Newtown, CT kids."

Others quickly responded to Landrigan's tweet. The NHGOP tweeted simply "Horrible," while Ryan Williams, a NHGOP spokesman, called it "Over the line." Republican strategist Michael Biundo said "@Klandrigan, please tell me that is not true," and then asked New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, "what kind of ship are you running?" The state Democratic Party didn't post the "card," and members of the Londonderry Democratic Committee tell Londonderry Patch they had nothing to do with the Facebook posting, and deleted it as soon as it was brought to their attention.

"A local activist of Londonderry posted the card u are referring to on our Londonderry Democratic Committee Facebook. The activist received the card from the originator I believe. As soon as it was brought to my attention it was immediately deleted from our site," said Tammy Siekmann, chairwoman of the Londonderry Democratic Committee.

Siekmann said she believes the card originated from "an activist group in Concord." She said the Londonderry Democrats "were not directly or indirectly responsible for this card or delivering it to (Ayotte) in any way."

In a blog post on Nashua Patch on Friday, the group Granite State Progress posted a video showing people delivering cards with a similar message to Ayotte's Nashua office in person. The Mother's Day cards read "Dear Senator, no mother should have to bury her child," and went on to refer to the mothers of the victims of shootings in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson, Aurora and Newtown. Zandra Rice-Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress, said via email Monday that the group did not create the card, but it isn't opposed to it either.