Porn hackers replace Muppet videos with explicit sex videos on 'Sesame Street' YouTube page

(CNN) -- Hackers appeared to have commandeered the YouTube page of the venerable "Sesame Street" children's show Sunday, reprogramming the page with content brought to you by the letter "X."

The show page was taken offline Sunday afternoon, and visitors were greeted with a message from the video website informing them it had been shut down "due to repeated or severe violations of our community guidelines." Users who called up the account earlier had found explicit sex videos instead of Muppets.

"YouTube's Community Guidelines prohibit graphic content," a YouTube representative told CNN. "As always, we remove inappropriate material as soon as we are made aware of it."

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, issued an apology Sunday.

"Our channel was compromised and we are presently working with YouTube/Google to restore our original content," the group said. "We always strive to provide age-appropriate content for our viewers and hope to resolve this problem quickly."

Search engine giant Google owns YouTube.

A message posted on the page before the content was removed claimed responsibility in the names of two YouTube users, one of whom denied responsibility in a statement on his own page.

"I did not hack Sesame Street. I am an honest YouTuber," the user, identified as "MrEdxwx," posted on his account. "I work hard to make quality gameplay videos, and most important I respect the community guidelines."