ALBANY — The decision to hide issues of a student-run newspaper at the University at Albany that called attention to a rise in reported campus sexual assaults — coming during a visit by accepted students — was inappropriate, a top college official said.

The April 5 issues bearing the front-page headline "Assault reports up 200 percent" were taken out of their racks in the Lecture Center Concourse, which hosted talks on the school's academics and student life for accepted students and their families Saturday. Those issues could be found elsewhere on campus.

The independent Albany Student Press' editor-in-chief Kassie Parisi said earlier Saturday the removal of the papers constituted censorship.

"I understand that it was a jarring headline, but it was an important story," said Parisi, a 22-year-old senior studying journalism and communications. "I was irritated and angry that people would so flippantly dismiss that and try to hide it."

Parisi was alerted to the missing papers on Saturday morning, when she got a copy of a message that appeared to show a tour guide urging student peers to remove editions of the paper, nicknamed the ASP, from the building.

A screenshot of the message was shared on Twitter on Saturday.

The message, sent Friday afternoon, appeared to circulate to fellow tour guides on mobile messaging application GroupMe. It read, in part: "If anyone is in the [Lecture Center Concourse] today and sees the ASP that says something about assault. Please remove them. Grab a stack and recycle them. I felt horrible doing it but it's just not something we want to welcome our families with this weekend."

Saturday evening, the college responded.

The decision to remove the copies was made by an unidentified member of the undergraduate admissions staff, according to the statement from James R. Stellar, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

"The decision was an inappropriate judgment call, and inconsistent with our values as a University," Stellar said. "The free and open exchange of data and ideas is a principle on which we, and all universities, stand. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the ASP, our students who are honing their journalistic skills, and its readers for this lapse of judgment."

The university said it found and replaced the newspapers.

The assault article reported that the university had 150 reports of sexual assault in 2015.

Stellar said the article, using data provided by the university, was accurate and fairly reported. "As stated by Title IX Coordinator Chantelle Cleary in the article, we are proud of our ongoing institutional efforts to provide a safe and supportive environment that encourages students to report this crime," Stellar said.

The paper, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, says it receives no funding or advertisements from the university or its student association.