The "Stop the Mosque in Bendigo" page claims it was closed over a post calling for Muslim leaders in Australia to sign "a Muslim charter of understanding” abolishing violence against other religions.

But some of those who reported the page to Facebook say they were told it was removed because it breached Facebook’s policy on hate speech.

The page sprang up earlier this year in response to a City of Greater Bendigo decision in June to grant a planning permit for a $3 million mosque, the first of its kind for the regional city.

It was taken down after at least two Bendigo residents complained about it to Facebook, the Bendigo Advertiser reported.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she made a report because she found the page’s contents embarrassing and unfair to Muslim people.

"I believe the page is hate speech and I don't think that the average Muslim person living in Bendigo should have to see the stuff that was on that page. The page promoted hate, fear and misguided intolerance and made me embarrassed to live in Bendigo," she told the Bendigo Advertiser.

Tara Harding, also a Bendigo resident, later posted on Facebook: "This was a great community effort by many of the Bendigo residents. I'm happy to say I too received a notification this page was shut down after reporting the page in July."

One of the administrators of the anti-mosque page, Monika Evers, dramatically withdrew a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal challenge to the planning permit after a legal bid to have her identity hidden was thrown out.

She had told the tribunal she’d received death threats and feared for her safety. The other administrator of the page was a woman called Julie Kendall.

“You know we have been riding a very unpopular stance with our page by many Australians,” Stop the Mosque in Bendigo wrote in an email announcing the closure of the page on Tuesday.

The email went on to explain Facebook had unpublished the page after its administrators boosted a post by an ex-Muslim calling for a more moderate approach to other religions to be adopted by Muslim leaders.

The administrator wrote she was: “considering my options before resurrecting the page” and claimed it had previously been hacked “as part of an ongoing campaign to personally vilify me".

Dr Seyed Sheriffdeen from the Australian Islamic Mission, the group behind the mosque, said he had visited the page only once and found its contents to be “purely racist”.

The move by members of the Bendigo community to have it removed had been heartening, he said.

“It is nice to see people standing for justice and at least a fair go,” he said. “I’m really appreciating the amount of effort taken by local non-Muslim residents to stand up for justice in this community.”

- With Andi Yu, Bendigo Advertiser