Inert grenade found in Newton basement

Roger Lehrberg showed a photo of the grenade he took with his smartphone at the Lehrbergs’ home Tuesday.Nicholas Pfosi for The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance

A Newton resident found a nonfunctional grenade while cleaning out the basement of a home around 11 a.m. Tuesday, Newton police said.

Newton police notified the State Police bomb squad of the incident, said Lieutenant Eric Frickey, a Newton police spokesman. Officers from the bomb squad responded to the incident at 38 Balcarres Road and found the device was not active.

“The device is inert,” Frickey said. “All the pieces are put together, but it’s not functional.”

Frickey speculated that the device is probably a souvenir brought home from a soldier during the World War II era.

“We don’t get a lot of calls like this in Newton, but when we do, it’s something like this, something that Grandpa brought home as a souvenir,” Frickey said.

This is the second time in the past five days a military device has been found in Newton, Frickey said. A team clearing a scrap yard on a property up for sale at Maguire Court found a 6-inch naval artillery shell Thursday.

“It’s something they would have fired off of a gun on a big naval ship,” Frickey said.

The bomb squad contacted the US Navy, which sent explosive ordnance disposal technicians from Newport to claim the device.

Roger Lehrberg, in red, talked with Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention Michael McNamara at the Lehrbergs’ home.Nicholas Pfosi for The Boston Globe