ANDOVER, Ma. — “Pokémon No.” That’s the message at Merrimack College for those unaffiliated with the school who arrive to play Pokémon Go, wandering through the campus with eyes glued to their phone screens. 

The smartphone craze sweeping the nation has made Merrimack’s campus, located north of Boston, Massachusetts, an attraction for roaming humans whose electronic stables the game’s unseen characters inhabit. More than 8 million people have downloaded the game since it was unveiled less than two weeks ago.

Check out this video to see more about the game: 

While the private college’s executive vice president, Jeff Doggett, says the school has not imposed an outright ban on the electronic scavenger hunt and showdown, he does say non-students who arrive on campus to play have been escorted from campus by officers — for trespassing.

On Wednesday, some 20 Pokemon Go players were either asked or told to leave the campus between the early morning hours and 10 p.m., according to the Merrimack College police log.

On Thursday, two cars with drivers and occupants in the throws of the app-propelled craze nearly collided while traveling a campus service road, Doggett said. In Florida on Saturday night, two teenagers who wandered onto another man’s property were shot at when the homeowner thought their virtual creature collecting was a burglary attempt. 

Doggett is not the only official worried about wandering Pokemons.

Police chiefs and town administrators wonder about unwelcome consequences arising from Pokemon-mania.  And representatives of veterans’ organizations have reservations about crowds gathering at sacred spots and memorials for Pokemon Go-inspired entertainment. 

On Wednesday, Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon noticed a surge in traffic at Merrimack Street and Pleasant Valley Street.

An elderly woman who recognized the chief stopped him and said a nearby store in the town was a stop in the Pokemon Go game where players can pick up virtual goods. 

“You know kids are running to Wal-Mart,” she told the chief.

“They are everywhere,” he told her.

In retrospect, the conversation struck Solomon as funny; he, in his 50s, the citizen in her 70s, talking about hordes of people, adults among them, possessed by a digital game populated by imaginary characters.

“We’ve been seeing people in the downtown area literally running across the street,” Solomon said.

It’s not just the running across busy streets that worries the chief. It’s the players’ heads bowed over cell phones, oblivious to anything but the game.

Merrimack College has had a huge uptick in the numbers of non-Merrimack College members on the campus the past few days.

Doggett attributes the uptick to Pokemon Go enthusiasts.

“This is so new; we are trying to figure out what to do,” he said.

As a private institution, the college has the authority to have people leave the campus if they are playing the game, he said.

“We do not want to make our campus unsafe — so we will be diligent,” he said.

 Eagle-Tribune reporter Kiera Blessing contributed to this report.