Philadelphia police are investigating two of its officers after a picture of them sleeping in their patrol car was posted to Twitter over the weekend, sparking controversy online.

Twitter user MrsMcmillan14 posted the image to Twitter at 12:23 p.m. Saturday, writing “@Fox29philly look at these Philly Police Officers Sleeping on the job!”

She also sent messages to @NBCPhiladelphia and @6ABC news stations.

“Who are they protecting, Mr. Sandman?” twitter user Nichole Matthews posted. Many others expressed criticism as the image circulated online, including a post to the department’s Facebook page, according to Fox 29.

The image shows two police officers in a relatively close view of them snoozing in their patrol car, taken from the passenger’s side. One of the officers has his glasses propped up on his head, which is cocked toward the window, the other is seen slumped down in the driver’s seat with his eyes closed.

The Fox television station ran a story about the picture, but obscured the officers’ faces to protect their identity. Other news sites, like Philly Voice, published the image unaltered.

Philadelphia Police Department officials acknowledged the incident, but would not publicly identify the officers, who are now under investigation by Internal Affairs, Philly police spokesman Lt. John Standord said.

Philly police also refused to divulge where the image was taken, NBC Philadelphia reports.

“If someone was able to walk up that close and take a photo, that’s very dangerous,” Stanford told Philly.com. “The danger is we could be burying two officers.”

“I know that might sound a little dramatic but the reality of it is if someone was able to get close enough to take a photograph of these officers the same thing could have been done in terms of these officers being either hurt or killed,” he told Fox 29.

Stanford said once the internal affairs investigation concludes, “disciplinary actions will be initiated on the officers in this situation.”

He said the picture reflects poorly on the department, and sends the wrong message to the community.

“We have a lot of cops who come to work every day who work their butts off. The picture doesn’t represent them,” Stanford told Philly.com. “We have hundreds of men and women working (overnight shifts) every night who do their jobs right.”

The episode, of course, sparked a lot of comments online, most criticizing the officers, but some defending them, as well.

“If they were caught napping at another job, they would be fired UNLESS it occurred during their lunch break … in which case they have the right to do that,” Darin Toliver posted. “But if they were on the clock snoring, then they should be reprimanded.”

“There’s no napping on the job as a cop,” user “54 wide 9” countered. “Napping on the job as a cop in dangerous cities will find themselves taking permanent dirt naps.”

“They have guns, radios, Tasers, and what else that anybody can seize while they are asleep,” commenter “av av” added. “A safer location for a nap may be called for.”

“They were staking out the sandman,” zedward wrote.

“As crazy as things are going these days I am glad that these men were only shot with a camera,” Devon Sparks posted. “Stay safe out there.”

“Cops can’t catch a break these days,” Jay Grace added.