Be Respectful, Don't Play ‘Pokemon Go' at Memorials, Park Officials Say

National Mall and Memorial Parks said visitors should remember Pokemon hunting is 'not appropriate' in certain parts of the Mall

Officials are asking "Pokemon Go" players to be respectful of the memorials as they hunt Charmanders and Jigglypuffs on the National Mall.

National Mall and Memorial Parks officials posted on Facebook Monday, asking players of the wildly popular new game to be mindful of just where they're hunting Pokemon.

"Yes, it might be tempting to go after that Snorlax near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or the Venusaur hanging out in the chamber of the Jefferson Memorial, but remember that there are places of solemn reflection here at the National Mall where playing Pokemon just isn't appropriate," the National Mall and Memorial Parks wrote.

In the "augmented reality" game played on smartphones, Pokemon characters move and disappear, so hunters can wait for them to dash away from a memorial to a more appropriate location before resuming the chase.

Memorials are not the only inappropriate places where people may be trying to "catch them all." The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum appears as a "PokeStop" in the game where players can find free stuff, The Washington Post reported

National Mall and Memorial Parks officials said visitors are more than welcome to try and "catch them all" in other places, like the Constitution Gardens, where "a visitor had a close call with a renegade Zubat," according to the Facebook post.

And the officials said players should look out for upcoming Pokemon hunts led by park rangers to learn about the Mall while chasing Pidgeys.

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