Sarasota sheriff's deputies were called to a suspicious package under a bridge. It turned out to be a bong.

Story highlights

Sarasota authorities are asking the bong's owner to come forward, claim property

Though it's spawned great jokes, incident was high on police priority list at first

CNN  — 

A Florida sheriff’s bomb squad became the “bong unit” this week.

Full disclosure: The writer of this story cannot take credit for the clever turn of phrase. It originated with whoever is in charge of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office’s social media accounts.

That person, it seems, had jokes about Tuesday’s wild goose chase.

“By the way, if the owner wants to claim their property we’d love to talk to them!” read a Facebook post.

Yeah, those expectations may be a little high.

The case was, ahem, rolled in a blanket.

While it’s all hilarity now, authorities had to take the incident quite seriously when they first received a call that a man in his 20s had placed a small hard-suit case wrapped in a black blanket beneath a bridge.

Police shut down a road that runs through a heavy residential area alongside the Phillippi Creek and called in the Hazardous Devices Unit.

The bomb squad X-rayed the suitcase and determined it was not an incendiary device. Upon opening it, they found a customized foam mold protecting a colorful glass waterpipe.

“I guess you could call the Bomb Unit the Bong Unit for a while,” the sheriff’s department’s Facebook page said.

Or maybe the joint task force, eh?

CNN’s Pete Burn contributed jokes for this report.