def load_properties(lines, sep="=", comment_marker="#"):
    """Creates a dictionary for properties provided as a list of lines. Split on the first found sep is conducted.

    :param lines: (list[str]) lines of the file.
    :param sep: (str) separator between property key and its value.
    :param comment_marker: (str) marker signaling that this line is a comment. Must be the first character in the row excluding whitespaces.
    :return: (dict[str,str]) dictionary representing a properties file.
    """
    res = {}
    for r in lines:
        if sep not in r or r.strip()[0] == comment_marker:
            continue
        i = r.index(sep)
        key = r[:i].strip()
        content = "".join(r[i+1:]).strip()
        res[key] = content
    return res