The largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall has long been an open-air exhibit called the East Side Gallery. One of its most famous paintings showed former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing his East German counterpart Erich Honecker.

The picture inspired many visitors to replicate the scene.

The original: Brezhnev and Honecker get cosy at celebrations marking 30 years of the GDR in 1979.

The painting, however, is no more to be seen. Authorities recently removed it as part of renovation work on the monument. Only the picture’s inscription, “My God, help me to survive this deadly love,” is left at the top of the wall.