The Daily News Twitter account went off the rails after the paper cut half its staff

The New York Daily News Twitter account went rogue on Monday, after layoffs that cut the newsroom in half and eliminated the social media team.

Someone took charge of the tabloid's Twitter feed, tweeting GIFs and memes, which were later deleted. It isn't clear who took control of the account.

The first post was of a popular GIF of a confused John Travolta from the film "Pulp Fiction."

The tweet, which was the last to be deleted from the feed, received more than 8,000 likes and was retweeted more than 2,000 times.

Then there appeared a GIF of Charlton Heston from "Planet of the Apes" screaming, "It's a madhouse!"

Another, tweeted directly at Chicago-based Tronc, was a clip of Sean Connery in "The Untouchables," saying "That's the Chicago way."

The tweets were shared by fellow journalists upset by the layoffs.

The Daily News was sold to Tronc last year for $1, with the owner of the Chicago Tribune assuming liabilities and debt.

The tabloid newspaper has been a key fixture in New York for the last century. It has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes, including last year for its work with ProPublica on abuse of the city's eviction rules.

The Daily News declined to comment. Tronc did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.