Vintage Pineapple Hand Grenade Recovered from USF Library

The University of South Florida library’s special collections section got more than it bargained for in a recent donation.

According to the USF Police Department, a box containing a recent donation to the library also had a vintage pineapple hand grenade inside. The explosive was discovered at noon today, Dec. 7.

Not knowing if the explosive was live or not, USF police evacuated three floors of the library and called in the Tampa Police Department’s Explosives Disposal Unit. That team removed the grenade from the library and safely disposed of it.

“The device was so old that bomb technicians believe the explosive material inside the grenade was not a threat or capable of serious injury,” wrote Andrea Davis, Tampa Police Department’s spokeswoman, in a media release.

Once the grenade was removed from the campus, the library reopened for business, USF officials said.