A man who made changes to an iconic Auckland wall painting says he wanted to create something more reflective of his community - and it's prompted a permanent update carried out by the actual artist.

Last week, residents of Morningside were surprised when a wall painting of two dogs fighting with knives had the weapons covered up with a bouquet of flowers.

The painting from well-known street artist Andrew J. Steel, titled The Divide, was the first large scale public piece he completed after leaving street art collective BMD.

"This particular work speaks directly about the conflict I experienced in BMD," a statement from Steel on the KingslandNZ website says.

"In the end, we didn't agree on much and it became a total breakdown of relationship, hence the dog fight depicted in the work."