COEUR D'ALENE -- Coeur d'Alene Police say a briefcase with an explosive inside has been removed from a Coeur d'Alene neighborhood, just blocks away from the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

A couple walking in the area of Kathleen and Second found the briefcase at about 5:40 Friday evening. Police say there was a note attached to the briefcase that read, "Warning: Do not touch. Boom."

Police closed off area roads and evacuated homes near the briefcase. Fair patrons who parked in the area were told they wouldn't be able to return to their cars for most of the evening.

"We treat every incident as if it were true and we hope that it's not," said Sgt. Christie Wood with the Coeur d'Alene Police Department. "It's most likely a prank, but you just don't know."

At about 10:00 p.m., the Spokane County Bomb Squad showed up and used a robot to detonate the device.

Officers say the note was not a joke and that some sort of explosive material was actually inside.

"I think it's pretty scary," said Mike Smith who lives near where the bomb was discovered. "People come here to the fair to have a good time and usually everything goes great and people get along, this just shows that some people just want to ruin it for everybody."

The bomb squad removed the briefcase from the neighborhood and took it to a safe location where investigators will begin to determine what sort of explosives were inside.

Police say it could be days before it's known exactly what the material is.