An antique grenade was found by a construction worker in an Illinois residence, and police claim a bomb squad was summoned to remove it.
According to CNN, authorities believe that the “ancient battle relic” was really a training grenade from World War II.
On September 7, while working on the house in Westchester, a construction team found “what they assumed was basically a war-time grenade,” according to Detective Sergeant Michael Fellers of the Westchester Police Department.
According to a Facebook post by the Village of Westchester, the team was able to carry the grenade outside and alert the Westchester police, who then phoned the Cook County Bomb Squad to retrieve the grenade. Then, according to CNN, the grenade was destroyed.
According to Fellers, the grenade’s detonation “would have been like a gigantic firecracker.” According to the publication, authorities think it was a training grenade from World War II, which would still have a detonating charge inside.
Although it’s unusual to find wartime explosives, Fellers told CNN that police suspect the house was previously owned by a military veteran who hoarded weapons.
Authorities in California expelled what they thought to be a WWII grenade and an artillery round from a Palo Alto residence in August. According to Palo Alto Weekly, authorities moved the grenade to a park where they set it off there after burying and sandbagging it.
Apparently non-functional due to a damaged firing pin mechanism, a Florida guy discovered a WWII hand grenade in 2019 while magnet fishing, according to USA Today.