Live grenade found in West Side lot removed by bomb squad

A citizen found a live grenade inside a lunch bag Tuesday morning in an empty West Side lot, prompting a Chicago police bomb squad to remove the device.

The person called police about 9:35 a.m. to report a grenade in a blue-colored bag in the 5000 block of West Madison Street in Austin, police spokeswoman Sally Bown said.

Officers responded, looked at the bag and called the bomb squad, Bown said. By 11:10 a.m., the bomb squad removed the grenade to a safe location for disposal. It’s unclear how long the grenade was in the empty lot before it was discovered.

Last week, a World War II-era grenade was discovered in a park in north suburban Highland Park.