A popular donut shop in Portland, Maine, was forced to apologize to the community after it offended customers by working with the Salvation Army to provide Christmas to a needy family.

The Holy Donut had asked customers to help it with a gift drive for a local family with five children. Those customers who participated received free donuts.

The donut shop reached out to the Salvation Army to find the family in need, the Press-Herald reports.

Instead of saluting the donut shop for doing a good deed, an online mob stormed its Facebook page. Click here to read the comments.

Many accused the Salvation Army of being anti-gay and discriminating against the LGBT community.

It was all untrue, of course, but the truth doesn’t really matter these days.

“They proselytize to the people in their programs, they reject LGBT people from their shelters,” one outraged customer wrote. “They have tried to scrub their image, but still discriminate.”

For the record, the Salvation Army is a well-respected Christian ministry that provides shelter for the homeless, addiction programs and of course the iconic red kettles at Christmas time.

The Press-Herald reports that the online mob was unrelenting, going so far as to threaten boycotts unless the donut shop renounced its association with the Salvation Army.

“In case you forgot, a solid 70 percent of your clientle is part of the LGBTQ community,” one rabble-rouser wrote. “You’re making a silent statement that you’re completely fine with their choices.”

Ah, yes, nothing quite like an old-fashioned yuletide public shaming.

“We do not support the Salvation Army or consider them our ‘partner’ for this project, they simply linked us to a needy family,” the store owners wrote on Facebook. “We have nothing to gain here, we just wanted to help a family in need.”

As unthinkable as it might be, a good number of the protesters were upset that the donut shop dared to help a family in need during the Christmas season.

To quell the growing controversy, The Holy Donut threw itself at the mercy of the surging mob.

“We take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone that we have offended,” the store owners wrote on Facebook. “We are an organization which prides itself on our track record of kindness and acceptance of everyone.”

The Holy Donut should be commended for helping a family in need and spreading a bit of Christmas cheer.

It should also be commended for make delicious donuts. (I’ve been privileged to sample its Maple Bacon Maine Potato Donut.)

And shame on all of you folks out there for harassing these good people and spreading outright lies about the Salvation Army. Shame!

What in the sweet name of Santa Claus is wrong with you people?