A group of Catholic school students in Sydney have taken on a homophobic bishop by covering their school crest with rainbows.

The protest is being shared by a 17-year-old female student at the school.

She became annoyed after the school released a statement in which the bishop urged for a no vote in the upcoming equal marriage postal survey.

Related: What the hell is going on with same-sex marriage in Australia?

Taking to Twitter, she shared images of students wearing drawings of rainbows stuck over the school crest.

The student and school have not been named because she feared expulsion.

The tweet has since been shared by thousands of people.

Explaining the protest, the student wrote that it was not against their school but rather the Bishop.

“This little movement we had was not against our school it was against the Bishop’s stance on the matter and we did it to make sure that everyone feels welcome in our school and knows they will not be judges,” she wrote.

Related: Catholic schools are defying the Church to urge support for same-sex marriage in Australia

She explained that the movement was started by students in the year above her who had created the rainbows and left them on a table with a “please take one” sign.

The student added: “I really do think my school is a really supportive, welcoming place and I am grateful to be able to attend.

“I hope that you can all know we weren’t trying to shame out school it was a fight for what is right against the Bishop and Catholic School Board.”

People congratulated the students on the peaceful protest movement.

“Thank you! People like you and your friends make me feel better about the world,’ one person said.

You are all fabulous and awesome and wonderful and brilliant! Please pass that on to all your classmates,” another added.