For more than a decade an air-powered piece of PVC pipe has, without fear or favour, fired t-shirts into a delighted crowd at home games of the Townsville Crocodiles.

But no more.

The National Basketball League team was this week forced to surrender its homemade t-shirt cannon to police, after it was deemed a category B weapon.

It was an order that left many at the club scratching their heads, general manager Rob Honan said, after it had enlivened home crowds with the promise of free t-shirt for more than a decade without incident.