SOUTH TOMS RIVER — An Ocean County demolition team got more than it bargained for when they scraped away soil from a pair of torpedoes.

The workers were clearing the site of the old Shanty House on Atlantic City Boulevard next to Meineke Muffler not far from Starboard Street on Wednesday morning.

At about 10:30 a.m., amid all the effluvia and dust, they uncovered their startling discovery, buried in the foundation, police said.

In rapid succession, South Toms River police, emergency management and first-aid staffers arrived, followed by investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and Sheriff's Department, a New Jersey State Police bomb squad, Manitou Park Fire Department, and a U.S. Navy team specializing in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).

The EOD team determined that the torpedoes were training replicas, and hauled them away for disposal, police said.

Police did not elaborate on the age or condition of the devices.

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