Since April, French artist Théo Haggaï has been collecting pieces of broken wall and paving from Paris streets, engraving them with tiny designs and returning them to the exact spot where he found them -- then posting videos of the process online.

In just a few months, his social media following across different platforms has climbed to nearly 100,000.

The 34-year-old painter and engraver, who lives in Paris, built his reputation with large-scale mandalas and murals.

But his latest creations are far smaller and much easier to miss.

Haggaï now spends his days picking up concrete and plaster from sidewalks, buildings and construction sites, engraving circles or minimalist human figures on them, then discreetly putting them back.

“Slipping little artistic details into places that aren’t necessarily meant for them, close to the ground, keeps me motivated,” Haggaï said. “I love the idea that it might resonate with someone too.”

Largely self-taught, Haggaï first emerged in Lyon around 2013 with chalk drawings of circles filled with handshakes and dots, symbols of solidarity and protection.

Over the years, he developed a recurring cast of characters he calls 'the dreamers': minimalist silhouettes, arms outstretched toward a shared hope of a healthier, more harmonious planet.

For Haggaï, the motivation is also political.

“This need to express solidarity through what I do is driven by world events, by social conflicts, by growing racism, by inequalities that only keep increasing,” he said. “Of course society, and the way humanity is evolving, matter to me and concern me. And that is why I create.”

Each piece is cleaned, engraved and varnished before being replaced, often hidden in plain sight.

The process is meticulous, but the works are deliberately ephemeral.

Exposed to rain and footsteps, many disappear quickly.

For Haggaï, that impermanence is part of the point.

Shared widely on social media, Haggaï’s practice has found unexpected echoes abroad, particularly in Brazil and Turkey, where his videos are frequently reposted.

Some of his works have even been acquired in New York including one that sold for 500 euros ($540), a symbolic milestone for an artist turning fragments of the street into works of art.

“The last step and the most enjoyable one for me is going back to drop off the stone and put the engraving back exactly where I picked it up,” Haggaï said.

"To glue it back so it would be visible and could live the life it was meant to live.”

AP video shot by Nicolas Garriga