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An East Vancouver thrift store was briefly evacuated today (June 18) due to a bomb scare.

A Value Village store located at 6415 Victoria Drive near East 49th Avenue was evacuated after an item that resembled a grenade was found among some donated items.

Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Cst. Steve Addison told the Georgia Straight that the VPD Emergency Response Team investigated and determined that the item was inert.

The store has since resumed business as usual.

Three years ago, a similar incident occurred at another Value Village in the Lower Mainland.

On April 22, 2016, a grenade was discovered in a donation bin at a Value Village located in Coquitlam, which prompted a temporary evacuation. After the grenade was found to be inert, the store and roads were reopened.

That incident followed one day after the Sumas border crossing was shut down after a grenade was spotted in a van. The device was found to be inert but three travellers were consequently returned to the U.S.

Earlier this year in April, Vancouver police responded to the discovery of old ammunition and dynamite in a storage locker of a deceased person at an apartment building at East 37th Avenue near Victoria Drive. The explosives were neutralized at a nearby park.