The Indian River County Sheriff's Office called in explosive experts from Patrick Air Force Base to assist.

VERO BEACH, Fla. — A man on Florida's east coast was using a metal detector on the beach, hoping to dig up something historic.

Instead, Treasure Coast Newspapers said the 37-year-old ended up digging up a land mine with his bare hands. The outlet said he found the land mine Tuesday afternoon on Vero Beach.

The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said it requested explosive experts from Patrick Air Force Base to assist with removing the object.

TCPalm.com said the land mine may have been from when troops trained on the beach during World War II.

The area near where the land mine was found used to be a WWII training area called Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base. Part of the shoreline from Vero Beach to Jensen Beach was used as a training area before the D-Day beach invasions at Normandy.

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