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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Britney Spears was removed from her home by Los Angeles police and rushed to a hospital early on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Spears, 26, was rushed into an ambulance from a side entrance of her Studio City home shortly after 1 a.m./ 4:00 a.m. EST, escorted by more than a dozen motorcycle officers, two police cruisers and two police helicopters, the Times reported, citing unidentified authorities.

She was taken to UCLA Medical Center after a call from her psychiatrist, the authorities told the newspaper.

Los Angeles police would not immediately confirm the report.

The pop star, whose personal life has veered out of control in the last 12 months, lost custody of sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, in October but had been allowed to see them three times a week in court-monitored visits.

Those visitation rights were stripped on January 4 after Spears refused to hand back the boys to ex-husband Kevin Federline and reportedly locked herself in a bathroom in a fit of hysterics. That episode ended with her being taken away on a stretcher and hospitalized for two days.

(Writing by Doina Chiacu, editing by Paul Casciato)