German police say grenade-shaped item in forest was sex toy

BERLIN (AP) - A German police bomb squad called to investigate a suspected hand grenade in a Bavarian forest determined that the object actually was a rubber sex toy, authorities said Tuesday.

A jogger reported finding a bag containing the device Monday in a forest outside the city of Passau, near Germany's borders with Austria and the Czech Republic.

The discovery of forgotten or hidden munitions is still a regular occurrence in Germany more than 75 years after the end of World War II.

But when a bomb squad arrived and inspected the contents of the bag, they determined it was a rubber grenade replica. The condoms and lubricant in the bag helped inform the hypothesis about the device's intended use, police told German news agency dpa.

'œAn internet search confirmed the suspicion,'ť police said. 'œThere are actually sex toys in the form of hand grenades.'ť