Denver transportation officials said an anti-car message that was displayed on traffic signs in Denver on Friday was the result of a hack.

One sign, photographed by The Denver Gazette on Friday evening at E. Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street near the Colorado Capitol, shared the message “Cars ruin cities.”

“Yes, the sign was hacked,” Nancy Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, told The Denver Gazette in an email on Sunday. “We heard about it last night and sent someone out to address it.”

A second sign was apparently hacked on 14th Street in Denver, displaying the same message, and a photo of it was posted on various social media accounts, including The Denver Urbanist and Do Better Denver, an account which has been sharply critical of Mayor Mike Johnston.

“With major events at the Colorado Convention Center and downtown drawing visitors up 14th Street today, what kind of message does this send to Denver residents and visitors?” Do Better Denver said on Instagram.

Kuhn told The Denver Gazette the signs are not hard to reprogram.

“DOTI is not investigating,” Kuhn said. “(The signs) likely don’t belong to DOTI, but a contractor.”

Denver police had not responded to an attempt to obtain additional information about the sign hacks as of the time of publication.

The anti-car signs come at a time when tensions between motorists and cyclists/pedestrians have flared in Denver in recent weeks over a DOTI plan to reduce lanes of motor vehicle traffic along Alameda Avenue near Washington Park.

A neighborhood group called Act for Alameda reportedly collected 800 signatures from people expressing concerns that reducing lanes for vehicles along Alameda Avenue would force cars into the quiet surrounding streets.

The city had maintained its narrowing project was necessary to improve safety, following what it said was a study of speeding and collisions that were resulting from unprotected left turns across two oncoming lanes of traffic. DOTI had added that it had received community requests for better pedestrian crossings near a school.

DOTI, in early November, changed course, modifying its “lane repurposing project” along Alameda to leave two lanes of eastbound traffic intact, while narrowing westbound traffic for a mile-long expanse from South Humboldt to South Pearl Street to a single lane.

Not all neighbors were happy with DOTI’s decision to scale back its original “road diet” plan. Bryan Denning told The Denver Gazette last month he felt the city was “prioritizing convenience over the safety of pedestrians in the area.”

Denver Gazette reporters Noah Festenstein and Mark Samuelson contributed to this report.