Florida transportation crews painted over a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside Orlando’s Pulse nightclub late on 20–21 Aug., eliminating a memorial installed in 2017 to honor the 49 people killed in the 2016 mass shooting. The crossing, on Esther Street at Orange Avenue, was replaced with standard white markings without prior notice to city officials. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer condemned the overnight action as a “cruel political act,” while State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith called the move state-sponsored vandalism. Survivors and local advocates said the removal disrespects victims and diminishes LGBTQ visibility at the planned permanent Pulse memorial site. Governor Ron DeSantis defended the decision, writing that Florida “will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes.” His position echoes a June memo from the Florida Department of Transportation that bans crosswalk or roadway “surface art” conveying social or political messages and threatens to withhold transportation funds from non-compliant cities. Key West and Delray Beach have been ordered to strip similar Pride crosswalks by 3 Sept., and St. Petersburg has asked the state for an exemption for five colorful intersections. Miami Beach’s lone openly gay commissioner said he will organize cities to challenge the state policy. The dispute widens a national debate over decorative road markings after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in July urged all states to keep political statements off federally funded streets. Orlando officials say they are weighing options to restore a tribute they argue improves pedestrian safety and commemorates the victims whose memory, they insist, “can never be erased.”