An explosive device was found on Monday in a mailbox near the New York home of billionaire financier George Soros, a favorite target of right-wing campaigners in the United States and eastern Europe, the New York Times reported, citing police.

Authorities responded to the home in Katonah, New York after they received a call about a suspicious package at about 3.45pm, the Times reported.

“An employee of the residence opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device,” police said in a statement to the Times.

The employee put the package in a wooded area and called police. Bomb squad technicians arrived and detonated it, a police official told the New York Times.

Soros was not home at the time, the Times reported.

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