A portion of downtown Stratford was temporarily closed Thursday night after a well-meaning citizen brought a grenade to police headquarters for disposal.
The grenade, believed to be from the Second World War, was found while the person was cleaning out their home, Stratford police said.
The small explosive device was left in a vehicle parked in the municipal lot across from the police station shortly before 7 p.m. After local police were advised of its presence, they blocked off the area immediately surrounding police headquarters, including George Street West between Downie Street and St Patrick Street, and contacted the Waterloo Regional Police Service bomb disposal unit.
Bomb disposal officers arrived around 8:50 p.m. and retrieved the grenade without incident.
"Due to their age, devices such as these are known to be highly unstable when moved and could result in serious injury or death to those moving them, as well as anyone else in the area," police said in a statement. "The Stratford Police Service would like to stress the importance of leaving these items in their original location when found, and to contact police to make the appropriate arrangements to have them removed and disposed of."
The incident in Stratford came less than a week after a grenade was accidentally included in a box of donations to the the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Wingham. A large section of the downtown was evacuated as a safety precaution while police removed the grenade.
