Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones to Leave 'Parks and Recreation'

The pair will exit the sitcom during its sixth season

Photo: Colleen Hayes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

It’s true – Chris Traeger and Ann Perkins are peacing out of Pawnee.

Mike Schur, Parks and Recreation‘s executive producer, confirms that Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones are set to exit the series.

“The news about Rob and Rashida is true – they will be leaving the show after the 13th episode of the upcoming season six. We’ve been working on their storyline (on and off) for four seasons now, and heading into this year, with the two of them contemplating parenthood, it felt like a natural time to move them into the next phase,” Schur said in a statement.

“We absolutely love both Rashida and Rob, and will be sad to see them go. Rashida was one of the very first people we knew we wanted in the cast, and as important as Ann is to Leslie (and vice-versa), she’ll certainly never be far from Pawnee. Rob we initially thought we could only have for six or eight episodes, and we couldn’t be happier that he will have stuck around for 75.”

He adds, “They are wonderful, funny, committed actors, they’ve been a huge part of the Parks and Rec family, and we think we have a great Pawnee send-off in the works for them.”

Jones, 37, has played the best friend to Amy Poehler‘s Leslie Knope since the show’s premiere, while Lowe, 49, joined during the second season, in what was originally a guest role but transitioned to series regular.

Parks and Recreation‘s hour-long season premiere, which was filmed in London, airs Sept. 26.

• Reporting by PATRICK GOMEZ and MONICA RIZZO