Police are looking to Facebook for clues after a bomb-like object was found behind a southwestern Sydney police station.
The device was found in the rear car park of Campsie Police Station on Tuesday afternoon as part of a routine inspection.
It was discovered on the same day threatening posts were made on the station's Facebook page and an email linking it to a Muslim protest was sent to a Sydney news organisation.
Experts say the way the device was constructed meant it could not detonate.
"It did however contain materials that had the potential to cause damage or injury," a NSW police spokeswoman told AAP on Thursday.
"NSW Police Force is investigating several Facebook posts potentially connected to the object."
Counter-Terrorism and Special Tactics Unit Commander Peter Dean told the ABC it was unclear whether the device, which is thought to have been slipped under a back fence, was specifically designed not to explode.
"We're not sure how that came about, whether the person meant to do that or whether they just didn't know what they were doing," he said on Thursday.
"If it did detonate, it could cause serious injury or death ... but also the shrapnel effect (could have) caused injury."
He described the device as small enough to hide under a jacket.
On the same day a post appeared on the Campsie Police Station Facebook page making a "veiled threat about police not listening to somebody in relation to certain things".
A similar post was also made on the Facebook page of a television station, and an email sent to the Daily Telegraph and titled "bomb threat in Sydney" warned that "we have already stored the detonator with stick somewhere in a police station".
"We have detonated a bomb protesting against your killings of muslims overseas, and your unjust conviction of our brothers and your treatment of us when we protested in Sydney," the email said.
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