(Tribune News Service) — A deputy and his grandchildren took photos and touched a puzzling, barnacle-covered metal object that had washed ashore Englewood Beach, Fla. on June 11.

The 100-pound object was discovered to be a World War II era practice bomb, a spokesperson for MacDill Air Force Base said on Monday.

Jim Jackson told WBBH, a television station in Fort Myers, Fla., that his grandchildren spotted the item on the beach from a condo.

“I first thought, this is a scuba tank, maybe,” he told the outlet.

The bomb prompted curiosity from passersby until Jackson, a deputy with a military background, identified it, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.

Law enforcement evacuated the area as bomb squads came in to evaluate the item, eventually determining it didn’t pose a threat.

MacDill’s explosive ordnance disposal team tried to transport it to the base to use as a training aid, but it essentially disintegrated, the spokesperson said.

The airdrop bomb could have come from air force teams practicing over the Tampa Bay area during the World War II time period, which coincides with the base’s completion in 1941, according to the spokesperson.

It’s also not the first time military ordnance has washed ashore in the area.

MacDill advises anyone who sees what they suspect could be unexploded ordnance to contact local law enforcement.

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