A state police bomb squad late last week removed what appeared to be a bazooka round from the Edgartown transfer station.

“It looked like it had been there for awhile,” state police Sgt. Joseph Pimentel told the Gazette on Monday. He said the bomb was inert and likely a leftover from World War II, when large areas of the Island were used for target practice.

Edgartown police responded to a call from the transfer station at about 2 p.m. on Friday and contacted the state police. Sergeant Pimental arrived on the scene and photographed the rusty bomb. “Further investigation revealed the device to be an inert bazooka round,” he said, referring to an official report.

Donald Hatch, manager of the Martha’s Vineyard Refuse District, which operates the transfer station, was on vacation and could not be reached over the weekend. Transfer station employees declined to comment Saturday.

Sergeant Pimental said the bomb squad would likely take the bomb off-Island this week and destroy it. He could only guess, but seemed confident that it was a World War II practice bomb.

“Explosives wash up on the Island a lot,” he said. “Somebody may have found it on the beach and they decided to get rid of it, but I don’t think there was any foul play.”

It was the first time he could recall a bomb turning up at the transfer station, which serves Edgartown, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah.