A monument paying homage to Pokemon character Pikachu has secretly been erected in New Orleans.

Placed on an empty fountain in a park area on Terpsichore Street, photos of the fibreglass statue – painted to look like ageing bronze – has taken off on social media with the hashtag #Pokemonument.

The concrete base of the statue also features a pokeball.

No one has come forward to claim responsibility for the Pokemon statue nestled in an area known for the fountains and statues dotted between homes.

Neighbours woke to find the curious new statue in the park on Sunday morning (local time), and after photos were shared online, people swarmed the area to take their own snaps.

“I just love the fact that someone went rogue and did something good and random like this and put a touch of craftsmanship in this, it’s really well made,” one man told local news outlet Nola.com.

The first photos of the statue appeared on Reddit and within 24 hours it was viewed more than two million times.

Pikachu is one of the main monsters of the Pokemon television series and video games released in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Pokemon had a resurgence last month when Pokemon Go, an augmented reality game using Google mapping, was released as an app for smartphones.

What a time to be alive. #pokemonument #pikachu #coliseumpark #gardendistrict #followyournola

A photo posted by Rissa Noell (@marissa_noell_rosy) on Aug 1, 2016 at 5:37pm PDT

There is a crowd at the #pokemonument. pic.twitter.com/tumXBCJfI0

— Lind. Z (@LASwae) August 1, 2016