Employees at the Hartland Regional Landfill facility in Saanich were surprised when they discovered a handheld missile launcher in the landfill last week.
One employee called the Saanich Police on September 4 and told them they had found the launcher, which had the word ‘INERT’ on it.
Investigators say this type of weapons system would have been used as a one-time deployment and was designed to be used as a surface to air weapon. Once it would have been used, the housing, internal components, and sighting system would have been discarded.
Police say the launcher likely came from someone’s private collection, estimated to be of American origin from the 1960’s or 70’s, and would have been kept as memorabilia or a souvenir.
Police say it is not illegal to own this souvenir, but discarding something like this in the landfill can cause others to have unwarranted concern.
“The appearance of this item is quite aggressive and could clearly cause someone concern if they were to observe another person carrying it” said Sgt. Steve Eassie.
Police are asking that should anyone find items such as this in a collection, or have one in their own collection that they no longer wish to have, they would be asked to contact the police department from their jurisdiction so that the item could be destroyed in an appropriate manner.
“This isn’t something we would normally find in a landfill,” said Eassie. “We have had items similar to this that have been turned in in the past for destruction, which is obviously the preferred course of action.”
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