The Boulder Transit Center at 1400 Walnut St. was briefly evacuated and the area around the downtown station shut down this morning after police received a report of a suspicious device that turned out to be a bong, according to dispatchers.

The report came in around 6:01 a.m. today after a security guard at the bus station found what he thought looked like a pipe bomb near the bike shelter on the east side of the station, according to police spokeswoman Kim Kobel.

The guard described the object as a foot-long plastic pipe that was capped at both ends.

RTD evacuated the bus station and police briefly closed some streets in the area. But a Boulder police sergeant caught a look at the device and determined it was some sort of bong.

“It was some kind of either marijuana storage or marijuana smoking device,” Kobel said. “There was some marijuana in it.”

Kobel said it appears the bong was forgotten at the station and was not intended to scare anyone.

Police lifted the closures and the evacuation just before 6:20 a.m.

While it turned out to be a bong, Kobel said there was some plastic capping on it that did make the device appear suspicious at first glance, which prompted the 911 call by the security guard.

“That was the right thing to do,” Kobel said. “If you don’t know what something is, call us so we can get eyes on it.”

This is the second time this year that the area around the transit center has been evacuated due to a report of a suspicious package. In January, an empty package left on the steps of the downtown post office shut down the downtown area for several hours.

The call also comes one day after hazmat crews investigated suspicious letters with white powder at two Jewish organizations. The powder turned out to be non-toxic.

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars.