GULFPORT, Miss. — A rival town has claimed it built a sand dollar monument larger than Gulfport’s Magnolia Sand Dollar, escalating a roadside-attraction contest that has drawn fresh attention to the 77-year-old concrete landmark in Gulfport’s town square.

The announcement follows an 18% increase in visitors to the Magnolia Sand Dollar after word of the rival project spread. Paloma Okonjo, a tourism board representative, said the competing claim has given travelers another reason to stop in Gulfport and see the long-standing monument for themselves.

Junko Delaney, who maintains the Magnolia Sand Dollar, said the landmark’s appeal rests on more than its dimensions. She continued tending the concrete sculpture in the square as visitors paused for photographs and compared Gulfport’s original with the rival town’s newly claimed larger version.