Brantford police manning the front desk of the Elgin Street station Monday evening did a double take when a man walked in and plunked two First World War grenades on the counter.

They promptly evacuated the lobby and called Canadian Forces’ explosives and munitions experts to have a look at the antiques.

Meanwhile, the Brantford resident who said he’d brought the hand bombs in to have police have a look at them to see if they were safe, told officers he bought them at a recent garage sale.

When the forces’ explosive disposal unit arrived, the soldiers took a look at the two grenades and decided they could very well have the potential to be live munitions.

Then the bomb experts removed the two grenades to a safe place for disposal.

Police regularly urge anyone who finds an item that may be an explosive to just leave it where it is, call police and let them come over and have a look at it.