Odd thrift store donation found to be a WWII-era grenade, prompts evacuations: 'A rarity'

Good deeds can sometimes have unintended consequences.

A police department in British Columbia, Canada found that to be true after a donor accidentally dropped a World War II-era grenade in a thrift store donations bin on Monday.

"Well, you never know what you can find when thrifting and yesterday proved that to be true," Abbotsford Police Department said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

A 911 caller from the Value Village location in Abbotsford told police on Monday that there was an apparent explosive device that was discovered by the thrift store's staff.

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"Officers attending evacuated the store and surrounding businesses out of an abundance of caution, awaiting officers of the Explosives Disposal Unit (EDU) to attend and assess the device, render it safe, and dispose of it," the police department explained.

"Officers cordoned off the area of the business to mitigate any potential risk to the public."

Officials eventually found that the grenade was a decommissioned Mills bomb. It dated back to World War II and is no longer explosive.

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A resident had used it as a paper weight and donated it by accident, authorities said.

A spokesperson for the Abbotsford Police Department told Fox News Digital that the grenade has since been destroyed by EDU officers.

"The grenade was never intended to have been donated by the previous owner, and following EDU’s closer inspection the grenade was found to be decommissioned having no explosive material contained in it prior to its destruction," constable Art Stele explained.

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Stele added this type of situation is a "rarity" for the department.

"We we were very relieved to have learnt that the grenade was decommissioned, yet want to ensure persons take the precaution of going through their donations prior to drop off," the officer said to Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to Value Village for comment, but has not heard back.

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