NEW YORK – AUGUST 01: Police officers try to keep cool in Times Square while on-duty during a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to the Nasdaq stock market August 1, 2006 in New York City. The temperature hit 100 degrees at La Guardia Airport today and Con Edison reported record power usage late afternoon, according to a published report. The temperature was expected to reach 100 again tomorrow. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A heat wave spreading across much of the country is so oppressive that the Braintree Police Department in Massachusetts is asking people to hold off on criminal activity until it’s over.

“Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday,” Braintree police wrote. “Conducting criminal activity, in this extreme heat is next-level henchmen status, and also very dangerous.”

“It is straight up hot as soccer balls out there,” the tongue-in-cheek post continued.

But the heat is no laughing matter.

More than half of the country saw temperatures above 90 degrees over the weekend, with heat indexes making it feel as hot as 115 degrees. At least six deaths were blamed on the excessive heat.