A snow-parking brouhaha has erupted between Boston city officials over residents' practice of saving their hard-fought parking spaces.

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"I spent three hours shoveling a spot out Monday morning and I will be outraged if someone comes down and takes the barrel out from my spot. I'm sure there will be a lot of other people outraged who put a lot of sweat equity into shoveling out their cars," South Boston City Councilor Jimmy Kelly said Tuesday, the Boston Herald reported.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has instituted a new "Know Snow" program to combat a long-held city tradition of saving parking spaces by using anything from orange cones and barrels to strollers, scare crows and Christmas trees.

"There's violence out there. People have had their tires slashed, windows broken. There's been real problems with the parking spaces," Menino said.

Wayne Bachelder, a former South Boston resident who continues the practice in his new East Boston neighborhood, explained the tradition, saying, "That cone is like a dog watching your spot. It's a moral thing. You go to church, you shovel your spot and you leave other peoples' spots alone."