MAIDEN, N.C., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man who bought a cooker at auction got a gory surprise when he discovered a human foot inside his purchase, police said.

Shannon Whisnant found the appendage inside the cooking vessel he bought at an warehouse rental auction in Maiden, N.C., WSOC-TV, Charlotte, reported Wednesday. Police said the storage facility conducted the auction after the man leasing the storage unit stopped paying rent. Whisnant said he hasn't decided what to do with the cooker,

Police said they learned the man who rented the storage unit had had his left foot amputated after a plane crash and kept it in the cooker sold Tuesday. Police said it is legal to keep an amputated body part as long as it is for religious purposes.