Wild monkeys have attacked residents in the city of Yamaguchi, western Japan, injuring eight people over the weekend.

Police say a monkey bit a teenage girl's leg early Sunday morning. The monkey left the room once but it came back by breaking through the screen window. The monkey also bit her mother's leg.

Later in the morning, a monkey sneaked into a room on the fourth floor of an apartment building in the same neighborhood, and bit a woman on her hands.

At around the same time, another woman who was outside nearby was attacked by a monkey from behind. Her left leg was bitten. The monkey reportedly ran away when she swung an umbrella.

In the same area, two men and two women were also attacked by a monkey between Saturday and Sunday.

The neighborhood has reported a series of monkey attacks, with a total of 38 people injured since early July.

Yamaguchi City officials began a hunt using a tranquilizer gun on Sunday.