For a community whose identity is tied to its Italian roots, many Newton residents are unhappy with a change they say wasn’t needed — city crews worked overnight to remove the green, white, and red center lines along Adams Street. The colors were meant to recognize the deep Italian roots in Nonatum, one of Newton’s 13 villages.

“That’s no good what they did. Very disgusting,” said one resident. Another said, “To me it makes no sense. How much money did they spend on doing this?” The change comes just weeks before the community’s annual Italian-American Festival. “This is our heritage. This is our religion. This is our culture. It’s been wiped out,” said Brian Riffe.