The State Fire Marshal’s Office, State and Topsham Police were involved last night (Jan. 25) with the recovery of a military training device , resembling a bazooka shell, found beside the parking lot of a condo project in Topsham.   

According to Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland, the State Police bomb team retrieved the object and it was examined  to be safe at a nearby construction company lot.  Residents of more than a dozen condominiums off Monroe Lane were asked to not leave their homes for several hours last night while crews retrieved the device, which was found late afternoon by someone walking in the area, McCausland said

The nearly two-foot long shell, which resembles a real bazooka shell, was used by the military for training and never had any explosives in it, McCausland said.  The bomb team took the device to Crooker’s Construction, located about a half mile away, to be examined.  The team used its remote controlled robot to remove the device and it was transported in a specially built trailer, McCausland said.

According to McCausland, Fire Marshals suspect the device may have been left there by someone who did not know what to do with it.  Investigators say when it doubt, call police, so it can be examined and quietly properly disposed of, without disturbing to an entire neighborhood, McCausland said.

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