A suspected WWII hand grenade found in a Bavarian forest was actually a rubber sex toy, German police have said.
A bomb squad was called to investigate reports of a discarded hand grenade found in woodland near the city of Passau.
On Monday evening a female jogger had come across a transparent plastic bag containing several objects, including one that “looked like a hand grenade”, police said.
But after officers had carefully examined the contents of the bag, they soon determined that the suspected hand grenade was “only a dummy made of rubber”.
“A search on the internet confirmed the suspicion,” Bavarian police said in a statement on Tuesday.
“There are indeed sex toys in the form of hand grenades, and that was the kind of thing we were dealing with here.”
Also recovered from the scene was an empty tube of lubricant, two unused condoms in a box, and a USB cable.
“To the relief of all involved, the police officers were quickly able to give the all-clear after arriving at the forest property,” the police added.
“Due to the advanced decomposition of the bag, the items had probably been there for some time.”
“How these items got there and why they were left there is anyone’s guess.”
The discovery of forgotten or hidden munitions is still a regular occurrence in Germany more than 75 years after the end of World War II.
Authorities said they had taken over the disposal of the items found.
