An Austrian woman in the lakeside town of Gmunden was settling down to a snug fire in front of her wood burning stove when suddenly there was a blast.

Austrian police are now investigating how a World War II grenade managed to find its way a bundle of fire wood. 

Police spokeswoman Petra Datscher formed the theory that grenades left in the area after World War II could possibly have been over grown by a tree making it largely invisible. The tree was then chopped down for firewood and sold to the supermarket where the unidentified 22-year-old woman bought it.

The blast shattered the stove's glass panel, but the sturdy wrought-iron stove prevented injuries.