The Navy is investigating mysterious debris that washed up along the North Carolina shore over the past several days and could be part of a U.S. military ship stationed off the coast, federal officials said Sunday.

The National Park Service said residents of Nags Head and surrounding towns along a 25-mile stretch of the North Carolina coastline reported finding plastic, metal, paper and textile fabric debris along the beach. The first pieces of debris were found April 27, officials said.

“The nature of the debris suggests it may have come from a U.S. Navy vessel located near the northeastern coast of North Carolina,” the National Park Service said in a statement.

Navy and Coast Guard personnel, along with local workers and other government agencies, have been removing debris from the shore over the past three days, officials said. A photo posted on the National Park Service website shows a pickup truck loaded with trash bags full of debris collected from the area.

The shores of North and South Carolina have been a hub of military activity in recent months. In February, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon traveled across the entire continental U.S. before being shot down.

Beijing maintains the balloon was on a civilian mission to collect weather data.

After the shoot-down, military crews spent weeks recovering balloon debris off the coast.

• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.