A maintenance worker at a home in Seattle made an explosive discovery this week when he found a grenade hidden by a bathtub.

When he saw the device, polar Bear Construction owner Vadim Kharkhavyy had finished ripping the bathtub out of his client’s third-floor bathroom Tuesday. He posted a video of the grenade on his TikTok.

“I thought it was some kind of ventilation pipe, and then as I moved the tub and got closer, I said, ‘Oh my god, that looks like a freaking grenade,’” Mr. Kharkhavyy told trade publication Pro Remodeler.

Mr. Kharkavyy then told the homeowner, who was also shocked, and the Seattle Police Department. The police bomb squad determined the grenade was inert and dated back decades.

“They mentioned something about WWII and how veterans came home and they brought weapons and stuff with them and somebody stored it there and possibly forgot about it,” Mr. Kharkhavyy told Seattle CBS affiliate KIRO-TV.

Police determined that someone put the grenade in a compartment accessible from a closet on the other side of the wall.

“Even if you open that compartment, you still would not know it’s there. You wouldn’t even have known if you put your head in there because everything is so tight. … So somebody had to know … it was there because of the way they reached in,” Mr. Kharkhavyy said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.