A youngster has made an sudden find while swimming in a lake within the German Alps: a 500-gram (17.6-ounce) bar of gold.

The gold bar that the 16-year-old girl discovered while swimming in Königssee lake in the German state of Bavaria weighs about 500 grams (around 1.1 pounds) and measures 6 centimeters (nearly 2.5 inches) in length.

A police spokesman said: “There is no Treasure of Silver Lake”, adding the area had been thoroughly searched and no more gold was found.

The 500g bar, which she found at a depth of two metres, is worth an estimated €16,000.

Rumors that Nazi gold was once lost in the lake have circulated in the past, but reports indicate that this discovery “was not connected to the Nazi era”, according to the BBC.

She handed it into police who are now investigating where it came from and who owned it.

A picture released by officers shows the bar, which is 6cm long, has several markings including references to its weight and fineness.

So far, nobody has stepped forward to claim the bar as theirs.