HILO » The state is setting aside $100,000 to remove a large metal container that washed ashore on a remote Hawaii island beach.

The 10-to-15 foot tall yellow container doesn’t have any markings, and officials don’t know whether it’s debris pulled out to sea by a tsunami that hit Japan last year.

The state isn’t yet sure how much it will cost to haul the container away from the rocky shoreline near Naalehu.

State Department of Land and Natural Resources Director William Aila told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald the agency doesn’t have a fund set aside for removing tsunami debris.

The $100,000 comes from a special land development fund.

Aila plans to ask the Legislature for debris removal money when lawmakers start a new session in January.