Wellington City Council has apologised for removing messages of support painted in the city following the Christchurch terror attacks, and says any new ones can stay.
The messages were painted in Aro Valley and on The Terrace, but were removed by council contractors because they were deemed to be graffiti.
The message on The Terrace said, "Love to all Muslims", and was accompanied by a love heart.
In Aro Valley, the message which was painted over read: "Stand together, NZ. Our people murdered".
Residents took to social media and also contacted the council when they discovered the messages had been removed.
Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the contractors were employed to remove graffiti, and they generally took a "pretty non-judgmental approach to what the graffiti says".
"In this case, they should have just kept driving."
The council would allow any new messages of support for the Muslim community following the terror attacks to stay up in the short-term.
"Over the next few days or couple of weeks - as long as they're not objectionable and they're reflecting the mood of the nation - we'll let it stay up for a while."
The council was only aware of two messages being painted over, MacLean said.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester told Radio New Zealand on Thursday he had instructed contractors to use their discretion in the future.
"What we've done is we've said to them, 'Look, our policy is zero tolerance on graffiti, but actually given the situation and the times that we're in, please go easy on this and don't do that for the foreseeable future'."
Lester said most messages would eventually be removed, but others could be permanent.