How to escape # hash character in regex match strings

[504crank at gmail.com]

I've encountered a problem with my RegEx learning curve -- how to
escape hash characters # in strings being matched, e.g.:

>>> string = re.escape('123#abc456')
>>> match = re.match('\d+', string)
>>> print match

<_sre.SRE_Match object at 0x00A6A800>
>>> print match.group()

123

The correct result should be:

123456

I've tried to escape the hash symbol in the match string without
result.

Any ideas? Is the answer something I overlooked in my lurching Python
schooling?