A missile launcher has turned up in the front lawn of a house in New Jersey, along the flight path to Newark Liberty International Airport: Feds Seize Rocket Launcher In NJ.

From the description it sounds like a shoulder-launched SAM.

(CBS) JERSEY CITY A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.

Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 this morning when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. “I read it and it [said] ‘missile,’” Besai told CBS 2 HD. “There was little ‘missile’ [writing] on it.” She immediately called police.

Sources tell CBS 2 HD that the device is the type used to shoot shoulder-fired rockets and is capable of taking down an aircraft. What’s more troubling, sources add, is that Besai’s house is located along flight path for Newark Liberty International Airport.

Besai’s neighbor, Joe Quinn, saw her pointing at the equipment from her front porch. When he walked over to see what the fuss was about, he was just as shocked to see the six-foot-long weapon. “She’s pointing that there’s something in the front,” he told CBS 2 HD. “I said, ‘Let me come down and take a look,’ and I saw a little soldier on it and I said, ‘Whoa, that’s a missile launcher or something!’”

Quinn says he originally thought the launcher was just a pipe, but after noticing the picture of the soldier, he realized it looked similar to a missile launcher he’d seen on television.

Jersey City Police removed the launcher, and the incident is now being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI.

Sources say Besai is not involved in the investigation as a suspect.

UPDATE at 7/20/07 11:59:46 am:

Zombie tracked down this possible candidate for the type of launcher: M136 AT4 Anti-armor Weapon. Notice the “little soldier” diagram as described by the witness above.