LONDON: More than two dozen schoolgirls have been suspended for using the Facebook Web site to engage in a hate campaign against their teacher, a school principal said.

The 29 girls were suspended from the venerable Grey Coat Hospital School in London for persecuting a member of staff, principal Rachel Allard said on Friday.

It was not clear what the girls wrote on the Web site but The Telegraph newspaper says the targeted teacher was forced to seek counselling. The girls were suspended for up to 15 days and are due to return to class Tuesday.

The Grey Coat Hospital School for girls aged between 11 and 18 was founded in 1698. Facebook, a popular social networking site, has often landed pupils, and teachers, in trouble for posting unguarded or inappropriate comments.—AP