Revenge of the Mooninites: Bomb squads in Boston, Cambridge respond to suspicious objects, blow up at least one, then discover they're part of a marketing campaign

UPDATE: Group that says it's based in Rome takes responsibility.

Bomb squads from both Boston and Cambridge Police today recovered small metal boxes with taped "Open Me" notes on the side as the departments urged the public to be cautious and to call 911 if they found more.

At least one of the boxes turned up on a park bench along the Charles River in Cambridge yesterday, where a woman spotted it and opened it - and found a $50 bill inside.

At 5:44 p.m. today, after bomb squads were called to two locations in Boston and at least one in Cambridge, Cambridge Police tweeted:

This possible suspicious package was identified as a tin can with the message "open me" by our Explosive Ordnance Unit. It has been investigated and cleared. Appears to be part of a marketing campaign. In the event others are located in #CambMA, please report them to CPD.

Live Boston reports that Boston Police bomb experts found and removed two of the boxes, one around 12:20 p.m. at the Charlestown Navy Yard and around 1:30 p.m. at 1 Beacon St., outside the Santander Bank

Boston Police wrote:

Boston Police are investigating whether these items were placed with malicious intent. Police are advising community members to exercise caution should they discover similar objects and to call 911 immediately.

Live Boston reports the Charlestown object was brought to a secure location and detonated.

Amy Brown reports she was out for a walk with her dog, Bronson, yesterday when she sat down on a bench along the Charles near Harvard Square and spotted a tin with an odd global symbol on it, with tape on one side reading "Open Me," which got her curious enough to, well, open it:

I made a few jokes in my head about it being a trap, but I still opened it pretty much as soon as I sat down and it was next to us. I opened it, looked pretty crazily around to try and catch someone watching or filming or something to confirm I'd just found $50 in the park and it wasn't a weird joke.

She adds that a Google image search on the emblem came up empty and that the only other identifying mark was a five-digit number under the "Open Me:" 00989.

She reports she'll use the new money for some margaritas and street corn at the Lone Star Taco Bar.

She adds:

I'll have an extra margarita for those people more cautious of random packages with directions on them.

Wicket the cat guards the box, its fortune-cookie-like message and the $50 before Brown and her boyfriend go and spend it:

Mooninite coverage.

H/t Shamus Moynihan