A thrift store in Maine was evacuated Wednesday after someone donated a grenade to the store, a local ABC News affiliate reported.
Local police in the coastal town of Falmouth, Maine, were deployed to the Goodwill store, according to the WMTW News report. They determined that the grenade was deactivated, not live, and took it away to dispose of it properly.
Heather Steeves, a spokesperson for Goodwill Northern New England, said it was rare but not strange for grenades to be donated, even as she emphasized that the store did not accept grenades, per the report. She called on donors to give antique items “an extra glance before you [donate], because it can be really scary for our employees.” (RELATED: ‘Unknown Explosive Device’ That Prompted Evacuation Turns Out To Be An Egg Wrapped In A Bandana)
A grenade lies next to a piece of wood in a frontline trench. Image not from story. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
There was no reason to suspect malicious intent in the donation, Steeves said, according to the report. “I don’t think this was purposeful or anyone trying to be harmful in Maine. We just have a lot of old stuff. So I think someone probably accidentally donated their grandpa’s old deactivated grenade for some reason.”
In a similar incident, a landlord unintentionally donated a grenade believed to be a World War II weapon as part of military artifacts from a deceased tenant to the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, Vallejo, California on June 14, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald. The museum hurriedly closed for the day and a bomb disposal team took the item away. The item reportedly “almost blew the minds” of the museum’s director and a coworker, both of whom had received the item, with both individuals expressing relief afterward, per the news report.