Two children play near a cannon on Little Round Top Hill in 2013. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post)

An unexploded artillery shell that probably came from the Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg was found on the battlefield Wednesday, a spokesman for military park said Thursday.

The shell was found near Little Round Top, a hill that was the site of fierce fighting during the three-day battle in July 1863 between the Union and Confederate armies in southern Pennsylvania.

The area has been undergoing an 18-month rehabilitation project and has been closed to the public since July. The shell was reportedly destroyed by a military ordnance disposal team.