The co-founders of Instagram have announced their resignation from the group.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have said they are leaving the Facebook-owned company to “explore our curiosity and creativity again”.

It was reported in Bloomberg that the chief executive officer and chief technical officer are leaving Instagram amid growing tensions with Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg.

In a statement on Monday, Systrom said the pair were grateful for “the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team”.

“We’ve grown from 13 people to over a thousand with offices around the world, all while building products used and loved by a community of over one billion. We’re now ready for our next chapter.”

“We remain excited for the future of Instagram and Facebook in the coming years as we transition from leaders to two users in a billion. We look forward to watching what these innovative and extraordinary companies do next,” he added.

The pair met while studying at Stanford University.

Instagram was purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion (£760 million) in cash and stock and now has more than one billion active monthly users.

Zuckerberg released a public statement about Systrom and Krieger’s departure, saying: “Kevin and Mike are extraordinary product leaders and Instagram reflects their combined creative talents. I’ve learned a lot working with them for the past six years and have really enjoyed it. I wish them all the best and I’m looking forward to seeing what they build next.”

The co-founders’ resignation from the group comes months after the WhatsApp chief executive and co-founder Jan Koum resigned. Whatsapp was sold to Facebook in 2014.