Officials in the city of Clifton say that they want to keep a mural painted by a young artist, but that the state won’t let them.

The original mural sparked some controversy when it first went up. The 19-year-old artist and a group of volunteers painted the mural under an overpass on Allwood Road. The mural was supposed to celebrate unity and diversity. It contained five fists painted in different skin tones.

Some Clifton residents took issue with the Black raised fist and said that the mural was “too political.” The Clifton Department of Public Works painted over that fist.

Now the New Jersey Turnpike Authority says that murals aren’t even allowed in that space in the first place.

The city is now appealing to Gov. Phil Murphy to keep the new art intact.