Police Very Alarmed Over 'Fluke Discovery' Made in Wooded Area: 'It's Not Your Everyday Find

Canadian authorities said at a press conference Tuesday they alarmed by a well-constructed tunnel that a conservation worker stumbled upon in a wooded area last month.

"It's not your everyday find," Toronto Police deputy chief Mark Saunders told reporters of the Jan. 14 discovery.

Image source: Toronto Police

Police said a conservation worker located the 33-foot-long, 6-foot high underground structure on accident.

Image source: Toronto Police

Image source: Toronto Police

Speaking to PRI, the CBS's John Lancaster, who broke the story, discussed the find.

[sharequote align="center"]"This was a fluke discovery."[/sharequote]

"This was a fluke discovery," he said. "It was a conservation authority worker who was simply patrolling the forrest … he found a gas canister on top of a small pile of dirt and decided to take a closer look."

Image source: Toronto Police

Image source: Toronto Police

"He shoved away some of the dirt and underneath that was a flat piece of wood that was covering a hole," Lancaster continued. "He pulled that off and looked down and saw a ladder."

The conservation worker immediately called authorities who examined the scene.

Image source: Toronto Police

"Police were called and went down into the tunnel and discovered this wasn't the work of children, this wasn't some kind of prank, this was highly sophisticated," Lancaster told PRI.

Saunders elaborated to reporters, noting that the tunnel had been reinforced with wood and still had expensive construction equipment inside of it. In addition, rosary beads and a poppy were found nailed to the underground chamber.

Image source: Toronto Police

"It’s not so much the tunnel that has police so concerned, it’s the fact they don’t know why it’s there and who put it there and what the motive for this may be," Lancaster said.

The tunnel was found near a venue which will be hosting the 2015 Pan Am & Parapan American Games, which has led some to believe it was being constructed for nefarious reasons.

Police, however, seemed to dismiss such suggestions.

“My short answer is no … with all of our venues we have a very robust security mechanism in place," Saunders said. "This thing would have been an eye sore to us. We would have located this."

Saunders further added that the simple act of digging the tunnel did not appear to be illegal.

"There's no criminal offense for digging a hole," he said. "There is nothing that suggests this is criminal in any sort of form."

Image source: Toronto Police

Nonetheless, Saunders noted that because of the state of world events, authorities would continue investigating until they learn why the tunnel was being constructed.

"Until we get the intent is behind this, we will continue to investigate," he said.

Saunders added that police have since dismantled the tunnel and filled it with dirt.

(H/T: PRI)

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