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GULF SHORES, Ala. — <\/span>A TSA agent discovered a set of stolen Civil War-era cannonballs in a passenger’s suitcase during a routine security screening at an Alabama airport earlier this month, law enforcement officials said. <\/p>\n The Transportation Security Administration<\/a> said in a statement Friday that the relics were discovered at Gulf Shores International Airport on July 18 after the agent observed what appeared to be a large, opaque item inside a suitcase during an X-ray screening. When he opened the luggage, he found five small cannonballs wrapped in paper towels and notified a supervisor.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never seen anything quite this unique,\u201d TSA Officer Justin Dupree said in a statement from the agency. \u201cI\u2019ve seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The cannonballs \u2014 the largest about the size of grapefruits and weighing about as much as a shot put ball \u2014 were inactive and didn\u2019t contain any explosive material or active components, the TSA said. Still, cannonballs are artillery munitions and considered prohibited items on planes.<\/p>\n Police eventually determined the cannonballs were stolen from Fort Morgan, based on paint marking applied to the artifacts by fort staff, and that they dated to the American Civil War.<\/a> The historic Gulf Shores fort played a significant role in several military conflicts, including the Civil War. <\/p>\n The Baldwin County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Thursday that a juvenile stole the cannonballs from a storage area in the fort and then placed them in their grandmother\u2019s checked bag. The grandmother told officers she did not know they were stolen. <\/p>\n Spokespersons for Fort Morgan didn’t respond to a email seeking comment. The sheriff’s office said the institution declined to press charges, and the artifacts were returned to the fort. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n