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An old piece of military ordnance that might have been a cannonball was found in a wooded area on the former site of Fort Sheridan in Highland Park, Illinois on Sunday, officials said.
Police personnel from multiple jurisdictions were called Sunday morning for the discovery of military ordnance in a heavily wooded area of Fort Sheridan near Davis Street. Fort Sheridan is a former U.S. Army post that has since been turned into a residential community with an adjacent forest preserve.
The object was found wedged between two rocks, and appeared to be a cannonball or a similar piece of ordnance requiring special training and care to be removed, the City of Highland Park said.
Police contacted the Waukegan bomb squad, which was to investigate further and determine whether the item should be destroyed or left on scene.
The artillery was found on Lake County Forest Preserve property, and Lake County Forest Preserve District Police will assume responsibility for the investigation, the City of Highland Park said.
It was not specified whether the piece of ordnance was connected to Fort Sheridan’s past as an Army base. The fort closed as a U.S. Army post in 1993.
But the City of Highland Park reminded the public to observe all posted signs indicating possible locations for old military ordnance on the old Army post site while on forest preserve trails — particularly in the area of the Henry T. Chandler Jr. bridge.
Anyone who might see old military ordnance is also reminded not to approach, touch, or attempt to do anything with it — and instead to call 911.