NEW RICHLAND — The Waseca County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a pipe bomb found in a ditch in New Richland Township Monday evening.

Waseca County Sheriff Brad Milbrath said the bomb was found by a person out running at about 7 p.m. on 170th Street just north of 240th Avenue.

It was about 4-inches long with a detonator cord fuse on the end.

Milbrath said authorities do not know where the bomb came from or how long it had been in the ditch.

“It could have been out there all winter long, or it could have just been thrown out yesterday afternoon,” he said.

The New Richland Fire Department and the Bloomington Bomb Squad responded. The squad was able to detonate the bomb without any injuries. The same Bloomington unit responds to bomb emergencies across the region, including ones in Albert Lea in 2006.

Millbrath said after the bomb was detonated — by about 10:50 p.m. — there was only an end cap to be found. The rest was obliterated.