Directional Wither Spawning from Completed Wither Statue

Steps to Reproduce:

• Place 3 soulsand in a row, along the East-West plane

• Place 3 Wither Skeleton Skulls on top of the soulsand

• Place 1 soulsand below the center soulsand - Creating a Wither Statue that does not spawn wither, facing in the North or South Direction

• Place a Wither skeleton skull within 2 blocks of the completed Wither Statue in the North or West direction (or both), at a height equal to any of the 3 layers of the Wither Statue. (This placement area to replicate is highlighted with yellow glass in all relevant images)

Expected Result: The skull places normally and does not update or affect the completed Wither Statue.

Actual Result: The skull places normally, but converts the Wither Statue into the Wither (mob).

Additional notes:
This is heavily directional. If your wither is built ‘facing’ east/west instead (like in the top left corner of the first image), you cannot spawn it via placing skulls anywhere around it. Only when it is facing North/South does it have this ability, and always in the area defined in yellow in all relevant images.

The red/blue markings on the ground correspond to North/South direction in-game.