A three-year-old boy found a live hand grenade in his family’s front yard, authorities said. 

A young boy stumbled upon a hazardous explosive device at a residence in Hartline, approximately three hours from Seattle, Washington. Thankfully, he was unharmed.

The child took the grenade indoors and gave it to his parents, who subsequently contacted the sheriff’s office around 6:45 PM on Monday to report the find.

While waiting for police to arrive, the parents placed the weapon in the shed, away from their home.

Authorities with the Washington State Patrol quickly deployed a bomb squad to respond to the house along with deputies. 

When they got to the home technicians confirmed the grenade was live. 

The device was then removed and disposed of in a rural area north of the small town, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office said. 

The agency posted an image of the relic on their Facebook page, showing a rusted grenade that resembled one used during the Second World War.

On Monday evening, a three-year-old boy discovered a World War II-era hand grenade on the front lawn of his family’s home. Authorities, including the police and bomb squad, confirmed that it was live and safely removed it.

‘The grenade was of a type used during the Second World War and had clearly been exposed to the elements for some time,’ the sheriff’s office said. 

‘It’s not known how the grenade ended up in the family’s front yard, nor how long it had been there.’ 

But Commander Clifford Pratt with WSP Bomb Squad said the device itself was not actually military grade, and instead was an IED or homemade device placed inside the body of the grenade. 

Pratt told WTHR that because an IED was placed inside its shell, it makes it more dangerous. 

‘They really have no controls, or no quality controls. We find those insanely volatile because we just don’t know what’s inside of them until we can put the bomb suit down, go down, range, X-ray them and figure them out,’ he said. 

He said devices like these, which he referred to as ‘novelty grenades,’ are made somewhere without any manufacturer, or data to figure out their origin. 

‘So trying to put a finger on exactly how long this thing was is just like you and I, bomb techs and regular civilians going, “Well, that’s been in the dirt for a long time”.’ 

Kyle Foreman, a spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said that although the discovery is shocking, it is not uncommon for the area. 

Thankfully, the little boy was not harmed. It is unclear how or when the explosive device got on their property in Hartline (Pictured: File photo of the small town) 

Kyle Foreman, spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said although the discovery was shocking, it’s not unusual because the area was previously home to two military bases

‘Grant County, back in the day, had two military bases – one in Moses Lake at the site of where the international airport is, and then also in Ephrata where the airport is,’ Foreman told the outlet. 

‘That was an army airbase back during World War II. So, it’s not uncommon to find artifacts on either of those properties.’ 

Local officials have urged anyone else who might come in contact with a similar device to call the police immediately.