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The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office to review and get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, U.S officials said Tuesday.

Academy officials were told to review the library late last week, and an initial search had identified about 900 books for a closer look. They decided on nearly 400 to remove and began doing so Monday, finishing before Hegseth arrived for a visit Tuesday that had already been planned and was not connected to the library purge, officials said. Hegseth spoke with students and had lunch at the academy, but media were not invited or allowed to cover the visit.

A list of the books has not yet been made available. Pulling the books off the shelves is another step in the Trump administration's far-reaching effort to eliminate so-called DEI content from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said late Tuesday: "All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump's executive orders."

A Navy representative sent a statement Wednesday to 11 News, saying: "We can confirm the U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from their Nimitz Library collection in order to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president.

"Nimitz Library houses roughly 590,000 print books, 322 databases, and over 5,000 print journals and magazines to support the academic inquiries and intellectual development of Midshipmen. The Naval Academy's mission is to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically in order to cultivate honorable leaders, create a culture of excellence, and prepare them for careers of service to our country."

The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County; the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, had not been included in the president's executive order in January that banned DEI instruction, programs or curriculum in kindergarten through 12th grade schools that receive federal funding. That is because the academies are colleges.

Pentagon leaders, however, suddenly turned their attention to the Naval Academy last week when a media report noted that the school had not removed books that promoted DEI. A U.S. official said the academy was told late last week to conduct the review and removal. It isn't clear if the order was directed by Hegseth or someone else on his staff.

Hegseth has aggressively pushed the department to erase DEI programs and online content, but the campaign has been met with questions from angry lawmakers, local leaders and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages.

In response, the department has scrambled to restore some of those posts as their removals have come to light.

The confusion about how to interpret the DEI policy was underscored Monday as Naval Academy personnel mistakenly removed some photos of distinguished female Jewish graduates from a display case as they prepared for Hegseth's visit. The photos were put back.

In a statement, the Navy said it is aware that photos were mistakenly removed from the Naval Academy Jewish Center. It said U.S. Naval Academy leadership was immediately taking steps to review and correct the unauthorized removal.