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Sydney’s rainbow pedestrian crossing may be gone, but many others are popping up across Australia, and even overseas, as part of a social media-driven protest movement.

In response to last week’s removal of the colourful crossing at Sydney’s Taylor Square, DIY rainbows have been scrawled on streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra and even in Kenya.

Many regional centres are also getting more colourful, with rainbow crossings sprouting up in towns including Ballina, Tamworth, Mackay and Gosford.

The movement reportedly kicked off on Thursday when social media activist James Brechney created a Facebook page aimed at getting people to create their own rainbow crossings.

The page now has more than 9000 likes and features hundreds of pics from people who have hit the pavements with coloured chalk over the weekend.

The movement’s also gaining momentum via Twitter.

‘Such a beautiful, meaningful, love-fuelled community movement,’ one comment retweeted on Mr Brechney’s account reads.

‘I’m told sourcing chalk in nairobi is hard but here it is – our first #DIYrainbow in Kenya, AFRICAAAA!,’ one of Mr Brechney’s own tweets reads.

Another tweet announces the arrival of colourful crossings to Canberra: ‘We’re at the capital! DIY rainbow for PM!!’.

Sydney’s rainbow crossing was covered over with asphalt on Wednesday on the orders of NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay.

The walkway, painted in the lead up to this year’s Mardi Gras, was supposed to be a temporary feature, but Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and the gay community campaigned to keep it.

However the government insisted the painted rainbow had to go because there was a safety risk as pedestrians sat or lay down on the crossing to have their photos taken.

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