A water tower in the Wisconsin village of Sussex was left with the word "SEX" written on one side due to an unfinished paint job.

A contractor said the letters S-E-X were left alone on the side of the tower after workers experienced a venting issue that forced them to stop work until the paint had dried.

Workers were in the process of applying primer to the water tower to update its logo when they were forced to abandon the project midway.

A village administrator said he believed the workers left the three letters up intentionally to get a few laughs and a contractor said they didn't mind the attention.

"We kind of like the honks when they go by and a little bit of the road traffic," the contractor said.

The message is to be covered up on Thursday as work continues on the other side of the tower, which still features the word "Sussex" in its entirety.

The town experienced a similar incident 20 years ago when the word "sex" was also displayed on the water tower and the contractor could not guarantee the result wouldn't be repeated a third time once work on the other side of the tower begins.