This is literally the worst news for fans of NBC’s sitcom Parks And Rec: Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe are leaving the series this upcoming season. According to the show’s executive producer Mike Schur, their exit stems from no controversy; this is purely a creative decision to let them go. He released this statement to BuzzFeed explaining the situation head-on:

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. 

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. 

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.

Schur shared additional details with EW: “The decision that they make that will see them transition off the show is made very early, so it’s a long fun kind of celebratory send-off. And it happens in the first episode after the premiere — the seeds start being planted. So it’s going to be a long crescendo and Leslie will go through a series of complicated highs and lows about what’s happening. For obvious reasons, it’s the main arc that plays out in the first half of the year…. They’re moving into a new phase of their lives and they have a lot of things to consider and they’re going to consider them, and then make a decision that leads to their [exit].”

So there you have it. The absolutely positive and lovable Chris Traeger and Leslie’s most ardent supporter and best friend Ann Perkins are departing Pawnee at the half-way point in season 5. The show with one of the greatest ensemble casts will carry on without them, of course, but that doesn’t mean they will be greatly missed. Try to imagine the scene where Leslie has to say goodbye to Ann, a character who’s been with the show since the shaky beginning; a tear-jerker is most definitely in the works.