Right around noon today, Hollywood 311 reported a “huge police response to the area of Lexington and Seward.”

The LAPD bomb squad rushed to a warehouse in the 6600 block of Lexington, reportedly declaring a “Code Five Edward situation” and evacuating nearby office buildings.

What could have caused such a commotion, in this land of sidewalk stabbings and ruby slippers hung on telephone wires?

A World War II-era movie prop, of course.

“They thought this was some sort of projectile,” says the watch commander at the Hollywood Station.

But after fussing over the mysterious object and frightening evacuees into a Twitter frenzy for half an hour, investigators “determined it was only a movie prop” around 12:30 p.m., an LAPD media-relations officer tells the Weekly.

“Just had to leave the office due to a bomb scare next door via KTLA,” wrote a guy named LeSean Thomas. “Welcome to LA. Smh.”

Here's his awesome Instagram:

law logo2x bThe Hollywood watch commander tells us the item cops recovered from the scene was the kind of “make-believe bomb” you'd find at a “surplus store.” He says it was discovered at an old warehouse by the property owner, who was “trying to clear it out.”

Gotta love Hollywood, where that strange line between fact and fiction is often so blurry that even L.A.'s finest can't tell the difference.

See also: “Bomb Scare in Beverly Hills: Aspiring Screenwriter Delivers Unwanted Script to Agent via Mysterious Briefcase,” and “Street Artist Plants Apple Grenades Along Light Rail; Bomb Squad Halts Service, Removes 'Forbidden Fruit' With Robot.”

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.