The part that irks me more than the self-serving "not technically graft" you are describing is the jerks who will find some reason to defend the actions as "nec

The part that irks me more than the self-serving "not technically graft" you are describing is the jerks who will find some reason to defend the actions as "necessary" as if there aren't plenty of 100yo original sidewalks in places. Literally any other "big faceless organization" would not be cut slack to this extent.