‘Bomb-like’ object in Wakefield was harmless

Canister with cord resembling a fuse was geocached item

Can’t find a geocached item in the Wakefield area? It may have been taken into police custody.

The MRC des Collines police spent Saturday evening looking into a mysterious, bomb-like object found on a bench in Wakefield. It was reported by a resident at 8 p.m.

The camouflage-patterned canister, which had a small cord resembling a fuse, was in fact a geocached item — but it took the La Pêche police a little time to figure that out.

Thankfully, a staffer informed them of the hobby in which people hide objects and list their GPS co-ordinates online so others can hunt for them. The waterproof objects often contain log books for finders to sign and date before they return them to the spot for others to discover.

After some investigation on a Quebec geocaching website, the police determined the container was harmless and felt comfortable opening it.

When they did, they discovered the object’s log sheet. The container was initially found on a Wakefield walking trail on Aug. 20, and again on Saturday, the log reads.

The investigation took one hour of blog-reading to complete, police remarked in a good-natured press release.

Although they now know how the game works, the police have decided not to play along.

They ignored the rule of leaving the item where it was found, and instead transported it to the police station for fear that leaving it on the bench would result in another police report.

The press release cheekily invites geocachers to visit the station to pick up and relocate the object.