BOSTON — A swatch of canvas recovered from the wreckage of the Hindenburg has sold for more than $36,000 at auction.

Boston-based RR Auction said the piece of red cotton canvas was picked up at the disaster site by a teenager whose father was working the dock when the German airship exploded on May 6, 1937 in New Jersey.

The auction house said an unidentified collector of Americana paid $36,282 for the 6.25-by-5-inch piece of fabric during Wednesday night’s auction. Auction officials say the piece is unique because it is not gray, like most of the canvas from the airship, and must have come from the giant Nazi flags that were emblazoned on the tailfins.