Military police are investigating how a loaded rocket launcher with instructions on how to use it ended up on the side of the Malahat.
A tree pruner discovered the weapon Thursday afternoon.
It doesn't belong to the navy and it's a mystery how it ended up in the bush near a busy highway, CFB Esquimalt spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Nathalie Garcia said Friday.
Steve Taylor, 33, couldn't believe his eyes when he looked down from the trees he was pruning, about 100 metres north of McCurdy Drive in Shawnigan Lake, and saw something that was cylindrical.
Upon closer inspection he could see instructions printed on the launcher. "It said pull pin, aim through scope, and push trigger," said Taylor. "I had an idea it might be a rocket launcher at that point."
When Shawnigan Lake RCMP arrived, the weapon was identified as an M72 rocket launcher. One of the RCMP officers on the scene was a former soldier who did two tours in Afghanistan.
Taylor estimated the handheld weapon is about 1.2 metres long and weighs about 2.5 kilograms.
"And it turns out it was loaded," Taylor said. The RCMP said a live rocket grenade was in the tube.
Taylor, who works for Capital Tree Service, said the rocket launcher "was within throwing distance" from the highway.
Garcia held a press conference Friday to warn anyone who finds a rocket launcher not to touch the weapon and instead call police immediately.
That message came after Taylor picked up the rocket launcher Thursday and posed with it for a photograph. "Obviously, I didn't push the trigger and I was careful," Taylor said.
The Canadian Forces Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit picked up the weapon and turned the investigation over to military police.
Garcia said M72 rocket launchers are used by the Canadian Forces but "it's not a naval weapon."
"We are concerned with the fact that a live piece of equipment was found on the side of the road and we have to determine how it came to be there," Garcia said.
She couldn't specify what type of M72 rocket launcher was found. "There's lots of variants of that weapon. It is a fairly common weapon that has been in production for more than 40 years."
The National Firearms Association said the loaded rocket launcher was probably stolen from the military. Group spokesman Blair Hagen said the anti-tank weapon is illegal to possess in Canada and would have military origins. "There are a number of deactivated delivery systems in private collections, but they are deactivated before they are released by militaries, but the actual ordnance are not legal for ownership."