( CNN ) Kids , being kids , like to climb on things . More often than not , that 's OK . But when the thing in question is a war memorial ? That 's the question burning up online parenting groups and in family rooms after an amateur photographer snapped a picture of two children scampering on top of the Vietnam Women 's Memorial in Washington . The photographer , Matt Munson , described the shot on Facebook as `` two little brats climbing over war memorial right in front of a veteran . '' The parents , he said , were laughing . `` It actually drew a crowd of spectators and the parents realized how evil they were being and quickly took off before I could take a picture of them all , '' Munson wrote . `` The more I look at this photo the angrier I get . '' He has plenty of company there . As the photo went viral , comment after comment poured in on Facebook and Twitter , chastising the parents for allowing the kids to play on the statue , part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that depicts three women tending to a wounded soldier . One nurse cradles the wounded fighter while another looks despairingly into an empty helmet . The third looks skyward , to a rescue helicopter or perhaps God , according to the memorial foundation 's website . In Munson 's photo , a visitor to the memorial seems to grimace at the sight as he pushes an older man in a wheelchair . The older man , wearing a Navy ballcap , and a woman also look on . The children 's parents are n't shown . Disgusting . `` Disgusting , '' Facebook user Trisha Davidson wrote of the children 's actions . `` So wrong , '' Twitter user karsonwithak chimed in . But not everyone was upset . `` I fully take why people can get annoyed and respect that , '' Reddit user z3k3 wrote . But the writer said a grandfather who was a veteran of World War II `` loved watching the kids play on the local memorial . '' `` He saw it as a way for the next generation to take some joy out of something so terrible and at the same time gave them a link to the past as many would stop to read the names or even get interested enough to read up on the subject a little , '' z3k3 wrote . Fair enough , some said . But some memorials are meant to be interactive . Others are n't . And a statue depicting a nurse caring for a gravely wounded man just does n't seem to be the place for play , a Reddit user with the screen name nickfree wrote . `` Unless the memorial is designed to be climbed on -- unless the message of the memorial is clearly 'use me , interact with me , to help carry my message ' ( e.g . memorial benches ) , the default is leave it respectfully alone , '' nickfree wrote . On the Mommyish parenting blog , associate editor Maria Guido wrote that `` there 's nothing wrong with children who may not understand how gleefully playing all over a memorial may seem inappropriate to some . '' `` If these kids were just doing that -- gleefully playing all over a memorial -- I would n't find anything wrong with the image , actually . But they 're not , '' she wrote . `` These parents were disrespectful , '' she wrote . `` The kids were being kids and following their directives . '' Though the National Parks Service , which operates the memorial , did n't immediately respond to a request for comment , the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund urged visitors to treat veterans memorials -- sites of powerful and often emotional pilgrimages for many who served -- with respect . `` Please remember to be respectful to memorials honoring and remembering our nation 's veterans , '' the group wrote on Facebook . `` We hope our visitors understand this moving forward . ''
A photo of children playing on Vietnam Women 's Memorial draws anger . The photos were taken by a group called the Vietnamese Women's Peace Committee in 1968.