U.K. doctors reportedly removed a toy traffic cone from a 47-year-old patient's lung after the man was referred to a respiratory clinic for medical treatment.

The patient was sent to the respiratory clinic after having a cough and producing mucus for over a year, as medics suspected that the long-term smoker could have lung cancer.

When doctors tried to remove a mass that looked like a malignant tumor, they were surprised to find a "long lost Playmobil traffic cone."

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) reported that the 47-year-old man remembered to have played and even inhaled the toy pieces during his childhood.

It is not unusual for children to inhale small toys, but doctors said that this case was rare as it remained unnoticed for 40 years.

According to the BMJ report, the airway of the then 7-year-old could have remodeled to adapt to the presence of the toy, explaining why the patient had no side effect for decades.

The man almost fully recovered four months after the removal of the foreign object with his symptoms improving day by day, the report said.