German man mistakes giant zucchini for unexploded WWII bomb, calls police

BERLIN – A worried resident in Germany alerted police to what he thought was a World War II bomb in his garden. Officers rushed over – and found a particularly large zucchini.

Police were summoned to the scene in Bretten, near the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, on Thursday morning by an 81-year-old man.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

They said in a statement Friday that officers determined “the object, which really did look very like a bomb” was actually a 40-centimetre (nearly 16-inch) zucchini.

READ MORE: 60,000 people evacuated as police defuse massive World War II bomb in German city

The offending vegetable, which was very dark in colour, weighed about five kilograms (11 pounds). Police believe someone threw it over a hedge into the garden.

Unexploded wartime bombs are unearthed frequently during construction work in Germany, often forcing authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents while they are defused.