Grenade found in mail package determined to be antique war memorabilia

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is investigating after a grenade, which turned out to be a piece of antique war memorabilia, was found Wednesday in a mail package.

They say a person picked up the package from a community mail box at Victoria Street South and Westforest Trail in Kitchener, but didn’t open it until they arrived at a The Boardwalk shopping centre in Waterloo just before 10 p.m.

After finding the grenade they immediately called police.

The area was secured and members of the Explosives Disposal Team were called in to investigate.

"Officers were able to attend that area right away and safely secure the area as well as the package and determine the device was, in fact, a grenade," said Cst. Andre Johnson with WRPS. "It's still under investigation whether the device was inert or an actual explosive."

Police say the package and its contents were removed by EDT members and then safely disposed.

"We do recognized that these events are somewhat rare and its unusual in these circumstances," said Cst. Johnson. "If you do come across a suspicious package, we encourage folks not to open it, but notify police right away so we can attend and deal with it from there."

Canada Post provided the following statement: "Our Security and Investigation team is aware and the local police is currently investigating. As this incident is being investigated, it would be inappropriate to comment further or provide details."

On Friday, police stated the grenade was a piece of antique war memorabilia and delivered to the wrong mailbox.

It was also inert and couldn't detonate.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.