A mortar shell about 1 meter long and weighing 150 kilograms was dug up from a vegetable patch in Xixiang, Bao'an District on Monday morning.

The shell is suspected of having been left by Japanese invaders during the 1940s, the Daily Sunshine said yesterday.

A middle-aged woman surnamed Liang found the shell Sunday afternoon when she was working in the field.

"I ploughed the field, but came upon something that's very hard. Digging the earth out, I saw a brown something. First I mistook it for a stone and tried to dig it away with my shovel. Then I discovered how heavy it is. When it was fully revealed in front of me, alas, I was shocked. It's a shell!" the woman said.

She notified village officials who called the police the next morning.

It took three policemen to dig the shell out. It took six people 20 minutes to carry the shell 200 meters to a police vehicle. Police cleaned the shell afterwards.

The shell, which is about 30 centimeters in diameter, appeared to be made of bronze. "I've been a soldier for years but never before have I seen so big a shell," said a security guard at the scene.

The field was a litchi garden three years ago, before being used to grow vegetables.

"My neighbor in her 80s had been working on the field, she transferred it to me 10 days ago for health reasons," Liang said.

"Japanese invaders had been here in Bao'an in the 1940s. It must have been left by them," said an elderly resident of the neighborhood.

Editor: Yan