Norwich — The face of Columbus and any references to the controversial Italian explorer will be removed this week from the Italian Heritage monument on the green adjacent to Chelsea Parade.

The removal comes as two petitions circulate on www.change.org — one seeking to remove the monument by Allen Nielsen with 502 signatures and a second started Sunday by Cody Hess to save the monument with 51 signatures as of Monday night. Each man plans to submit the petitions to Mayor Peter Nystrom.

But on Monday, members of the Norwich Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee met with Nystrom and City Manager John Salomone to discuss their decision to remove the likeness of Columbus etched into the side of the monument as well as his name and references to him on a nearby bench.

Committee President Frank Jacaruso said Monday the committee held a telephone meeting prior to meeting with city officials to discuss its decision. In place of the Columbus images and dates will be color images of the American and Italian flags, and a granite stone will be inserted saying the monument is dedicated to the Italian immigrants who settled in Norwich.

“We’ve all agreed that people are sensitive to the Columbus things,” Jacaruso said Monday, “and we agreed we will eliminate all of that from the monument, and we will replace it with what the main thrust of it always was: to honor the heritage of Italians.”

The committee plans to hold a press conference Wednesday to announce plans to change the monument and will hold a rededication ceremony later this year when the work is done.

Nystrom applauded the committee for taking proactive stance to change the monument. Nystrom said he had not seen the petition drives online but contacted the Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee when he learned of the moves.

“They made this decision before I even met with them,” Nystrom said.

The monument was erected and dedicated in 1992. The obelisk has the names of 400 Italian immigrants who settled in Norwich from the 1860s to the 1950s. The words: “Onorate I Vostri Gentori,” meaning “honor your parents is carved on the monument.

Jacaruso said committee members had discussed removing the Columbus image before the petitions started to circulate, as Columbus monuments were targeted, vandalized and removed in New London, Providence and elsewhere. Two large rallies were held earlier this month on the Chelsea Parade green adjacent to the monument, but the obelisk was not damaged.

Jacaruso said members of the committee met with Black Lives Matter and other protest group leaders to explain the decision.

“We had talked about it,” Jacaruso said, “and then when the petition came up, that put it on the front burner.”

Jacaruso said there was no way the committee would agree to removing the monument. Each year, he said the committee holds a memorial ceremony to their ancestors — including his mother — who made the courageous decision to leave their homeland and come to America. They became carpenters, meat cutters and bread makers. Their sons and grandchildren became prominent Norwich attorneys, physicians and community leaders, Jacaruso said.

In his petition drive, Nielson wrote that Columbus should not be used to denote Italian-American heritage and pride, but monuments should celebrate their “rich heritage” directly.

“To the elected officials of Norwich, Connecticut, “Nielsen wrote on the petition drive. “We request that the Columbus monument on the corner of Broadway & Crescent in the Chelsea Historical District be removed and discussions had with the Italian American community on an ideal replacement.”

In his counter petition, Hess wrote that his father’s great grandfather’s name is on the monument and his family paid $400 to have the name placed on the monument.

“I need you to call the Mayor & City Council,” Hess wrote. “Tell them it stays. Tell them no.”

c.bessette@theday.com