A 72-year-old man found himself in TSA custody on Christmas Eve after trying to go through airport security with cane, that unbeknownst to him, had a potentially deadly ice pick hidden inside.

The New Jersey resident, who has not been identified, had been given the dangerous cane as a gift.

Alarm was raised after he tried to putting the what-appeared-to-be normal wooden walking stick through the X-ray machine at Newark Airport.

A 72-year-old New Jersey man unwittingly tried to bring a cane featuring a hidden ice pick through airport security at Newark Airport on Christmas Eve

All canes are required to go through the X-ray machines during airport screening, so the man thought nothing of putting the cane on to the conveyor belt.

As he waited patiently for it to come out, a TSA officer noticed the strange interior of the handle and sounded an alarm, according to the New York Post.

Officers soon inspected the cane, which had a twist and pull handle, and found the ice pick hidden inside.

Agents confiscated the cane before taking the man into custody and later turning him over to the Port Authority Police.

After TSA agents called police, it was revealed that the man had no idea that there was a dangerous weapon in the cane, which he had been given as a gift

The man, who was traveling to Georgia with his wife and who sources described to the Post as not having full cognitive abilities, tried to explain the situation as police prepared to charge him for carrying a weapon.

He told police that he was given the cane as a gift and that he had no idea that there was an ice pick inside.

Police determined that the man was telling the truth and that he was not planning on harming anyone with the cane.

They released the man, and even dug up a cane from the airport's lost and found for him.

His wife left the airport to return the cane to their home, while the man boarded his flight.