Teacher tells boy to remove ash on Ash Wednesday

A teacher in Utah is apologizing after telling a student he had to wipe off the ash cross on his forehead.

William recalled the incident saying, "The teacher walked over and said like, 'What is that?' and I was like, 'It's Ash Wednesday and I'm Catholic. It's the first day of lent.' And [she] was like, 'No, it's inappropriate, go take it off.'"

William McCleoud says several of his classmates watched as he was forced to wipe it off.

School officials say what happened is not acceptable.

One official said, "When a student comes in to school with ashes on their forehead, it's not something we say, 'Please take off.'"

The teacher gave William a handwritten apology.

He and his family say they hope the incident serves as a valuable learning experience.