The copper statue of Vladimir Lenin stood above the Lower East Side cityscape for more than 20 years, facing southwest with one arm perpetually raised as if in mid-oration. Visible from neighboring buildings and the sidewalk below, the statue topped a 13-story luxury apartment building on Houston Street and presented an unusual juxtaposition: the founder of Soviet Communism perched atop a decidedly capitalist enterprise.

Over time it became one of the more familiar pieces of art in the neighborhood, seen by some as a bit of kitsch and by others as a contextual nod to the days when Communist meeting halls dotted the nearby blocks and May Day marches drew tens of thousands. Then, last week, the statue disappeared, removed from the roofline as swiftly and efficiently as Josef Stalin once purged rivals from power.

Michael Rosen, the developer and one of the owners of the building, called Red Square, said last week that he had learned that it could soon be sold to someone who might not want to keep the likeness of Lenin. He said he then arranged with a business partner to take down the statue, which he installed in 1994 as a sort of experiment with symbols.

“I wanted to do something creative, fun, an homage to the history of the Lower East Side, which had been a hotbed of political thought,” he said, adding that the statue originally had been positioned to appear as if Lenin was waving toward Wall Street.