A huge multi-building work of art has been painted over in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, reportedly at the behest of the artist BLU himself as a reaction to the clearing of an adjacent tent city and plans to build condos next to (and with views of) the mural.

In the course of painting the walls black, a hand was temporarily left in place with its middle finger up (as shown in the first image above) – this aggressive gesture can be interpreted as a broader commentary about gentrification in the neighborhood or a specific reaction to the residential project next door.

Death of a piece of art. #sad #blu #streetart #xberg #berlin #cuvrybrache pic.twitter.com/EOlWt8cmuw

— Joel Espi (@arthurcabot) December 11, 2014

Just like that #cuvry #xberg #berlin #Cuvrybrache #blu #streetart #graffiti pic.twitter.com/6EbkREnypw

— Marc Honninger (@MarcHonninger) December 11, 2014

Heartbreaking #cuvry #xberg #berlin #cuvrybrache #blu #graffiti #streetart #destruction pic.twitter.com/EzcqZA1UZa

— Marc Honninger (@MarcHonninger) December 11, 2014

As with any controversial act, this whitewashing (or black-washing as it were) has drawn both praise and criticism. On the one hand, it can be viewed as an attempt to fight development and change, but it also represents the destruction of an iconic work and arguably an act of egotistical self-sabotage.

The mural itself was originally created in 2008, with part of its progress captured in the timelapse video above. It was, from the start, a commentary on economic and social justice as well as gentrification – now it is again, perhaps, but in a different way.

Covering two sides of a three-story building in Rome, this ground-to-roof artwork is massive, even by the standards of a big-thinking street artist like BLU used to large-scale works.

Various window and door openings are incorporated into colorful characters with a” rainbow range of painted personalities,” some of which play off of the existing architectural details or structural quirks of the building.

BLU lives in Bologna and has been active in the street art scene since 1999 – he is well-known for his large-scale works around the world. Like Banksy, he keeps his identity a closely-guarded secret.

About the artist: “His graphic mania is directly proportional to the epic scale of his murals. His paintings seem to interpret the architectural language of public spaces and reinvent them into new shapes. Thus, his murals are never detached from the places where they were conceived because Blu is a painter in the landscape, urban or industrial. He always tries to communicate with the society which inhabits those spaces, searching for the uniqueness of each place.”