NATCHEZ &8212; The billboard towering over Katie&8217;s Ladies isn&8217;t exactly lady friendly, but that&8217;s the point.

As part of a Department of Human Services push for awareness a billboard bearing the words &8220;Convicted! Sex crimes against children&8221; and two mug shots of men with details of their crimes went up by the store on Liberty Road last month.

The sign is one of about 100 in Mississippi, but it&8217;s the placement of this one that bothers its closest neighbors.

&8220;I think it&8217;s very poor planning,&8221; said Katie McCarstle, owner of Katie&8217;s Ladies. &8220;To think that they would put it between a ladies dress shop, a ladies spa and across from a children&8217;s store.&8221;

Pamper Me Please spa faces the other side of the sign, which bears the same message.

McCarstle and employees at the spa said they&8217;ve heard comments from customers who think the sign is too much.

Though most question the placement, not all disagree with the sign itself.

&8220;I&8217;m glad their faces are there to get people&8217;s attention,&8221; Natchez resident Cindy Gwin said.

And that was the goal of the DHS, Director Don Taylor has said.

&8220;I think it&8217;s a great idea,&8221; said Brandy Harvey, who works at Pamper Me Please. &8220;When you have small children, you want to know who those people are.&8221;

But the two men pictured on the sign &8212; the same ones pictured on signs across the state &8212; are already in jail, and aren&8217;t local.

Phyllis Beach, a client at the spa, said she&8217;d rather see the billboard space used to post pictures of criminals who are wanted, or even those sex offenders who&8217;ve served their time and are in the community.

&8220;And they should target local people,&8221; she said. &8220;I&8217;d like to see habitual drug offenders there too.&8221;

But DHS&8217;s goal of raising awareness has been met, Katie&8217;s Ladies employee Nicole McSwain said.

&8220;It&8217;s something you think about all the time now,&8221; she said. &8220;It&8217;s out there and people need to realize it.&8221;

The same sex offender billboard is also on Lynda Lee Drive in Natchez.

The Department of Human Services could not be reached for comment.