A Grad rocket fired from Gaza towards Israel. Photo: All Voices.

An Ashkelon man kept a live grad rocket in his home for two days before police sappers were notified of its presence and were able to neutralize the dangerous projectile.

The Jerusalem Post reports that police said the man found the rocket in an open field last Thursday. He brought it home, showing it off to his children, wife and neighbors. The man even reportedly allowed his children to play with the unexploded rocket.

According to Israel Hayom, police only became aware of its presence when, during a neighborhood soccer game on Friday, a police sapper overheard a conversation among several youths about one of the players having collected pieces of Grad rockets fired from Gaza as souvenirs. They then arrived at the man’s home Saturday.

The police sappers, led by Superintendent Erez Tamsut,  detonated the grad rocket some distance from the apartment.

“The citizen who took the item home endangered not only himself but also his small children who actually played with it for a while, his neighbors, and the police sappers,” Tamsut said.

According to Israel Hayom, Superintendent Amir Sofer, head of the Negev region sapper unit, said, “There have already been several incidents in which people were severely injured or even killed by such objects, and some people still haven’t learned the lesson.”