German man mistakes large aubergine for World War II bomb

'It really did look very like a bomb'

In this handout photo released by the police of Karlsruhe, a Zucchini is pictured in a garden in Bretten, Germany

A worried resident in Germany alerted police to what he thought was a World War II bomb in his garden. Officers rushed over -- and found a particularly large aubergine .

Police were summoned to the scene in Bretten, near the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, on Thursday morning by an 81-year-old man.

They said in a statement Friday that officers determined "the object, which really did look very like a bomb" was actually a 40-centimeter (nearly 16-inch) aubergine.

The offending vegetable, which was very dark in colour, weighed about five kilograms (11 pounds). Police believe someone threw it over a hedge into the garden.

Unexploded wartime bombs are unearthed frequently during construction work in Germany, often forcing authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents while they are defused.