'Pokemon Go' banned at Auschwitz: 'Disrespectful on many levels'

ENTERTAINMENT

'Pokemon Go' banned at Auschwitz: 'Disrespectful on many levels'

Published Wednesday, July 13, 2016 7:08AM EDT

In this Oct. 19, 2012 file photo, the entrance gate of the former German Nazi death camp of Auschwitz is pictured at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial in Oswiecim, Poland. (AP/Czarek Sokolowski)

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WARSAW, Poland -- The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum says it does not allow people to play "Pokemon Go" on their smartphones during visits to the former German death camp because it is "disrespectful on many levels."

"Pokemon Go" is a hugely popular new reality game that uses GPS and allows players to search locations in the real world to find virtual little creatures.

There have been reports of people playing the game at Auschwitz and other sombre memorial sites across the world.

The Auschwitz memorial wrote Tuesday on Twitter: "Do not allow playing @PokemonGO on the site of our Memorial and similar places. It's disrespectful on many levels."

The museum could not be reached for comment Wednesday on the matter.