A Confederate battle flag flew atop a state building in Mississippi for a couple hours after workers mistakenly bought it, a state spokeswoman told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper.

The flag was put up on the state Supreme Court building in Jackson about 2 p.m. Friday and taken down by 4 p.m.

Kym Wiggins, public information officer for the state Department of Finance and Administration, gave this account, the Clarion-Ledger said:

Workers went to a local vendor to buy new flags to replace a state flag that was torn. They were given two boxes labeled "Mississippi State Flag" -- but the flags inside were Confederate battle flags. A maintenance worker then put up the flag, and the mistake wasn't noticed for a couple of hours.

Wiggins described the incident as "highly unusual."

A professor emeritus of political science at the University of Southern Mississippi gave the Clarion-Ledger a different take. "Have we seceded already?" said Joseph Parker. “The execution is faster than I thought.”