OLD BRIDGE – Some intrepid, anonymous patriots bolstered our nation's eastern seaboard defenses this weekend – with a pumpkin catapult.

Authorities received a report this morning from a passerby who came upon a catapult at the Old Bridge Waterfront Park.

When police responded to the Laurence Harbor beach, they found the device. And after a brief investigation – involving looking at the scattered pumpkin shards around the piece of weaponry – they were able to determine that it was used to fire large orange gourds into the great blue abyss.

"I guess a bunch of people carried it down there and had a good time shooting these pumpkins into the ocean," said Lieutenant Paul Moser of the Old Bridge Police Department.

When police arrived, the crank that made the pumpkin-launcher operational had been taken off the device.

Pumpkin Chunkin is a (self-explanatory) thing that happens in Delaware, among other places, including Warren County. This is apparently the unsanctioned Jersey Shore version.

Although bringing a catapult to the beach and chucking pumpkins into the ocean at the Old Bridge Waterfront Park is not explicitly against the rules, it is certainly not allowed, Moser said.

NJ.com also investigated the scene, right off Route 35, on Monday afternoon, but found only the spent ammunition in the form of a cracked pumpkin lying on the beach. This afternoon at the Jersey Shore, there was little GTL (gourd trebuchet launch) to be had. It seems the catapult had already been removed from the county park. It's also possible that we just didn't find it. County officials were expected to remove the device.

Update:

Here's a picture of it, via Twitter: