Watch: Anger, Grief as Philadelphia Mural of LGBTQ Activist is Painted Over

Philadelphia's LGBTQ and LatinX communities are enraged by the unannounced destruction of a mural depicting a community advocate.

Everyone understood that the mural of LGBTQ activist Gloria Casarez was going to disappear when the building on which her image was painted was torn down. But no one expected the abrupt erasure that took place, or understands why the new coat of paint was applied when the building is already scheduled for demolition, local ABC affiliate WPVI reports.

The mural vanished on Dec. 23, the news report said. Mural artist Michelle Angela Ortiz had agreed to pant a new mural following the building's destruction, but, she told the media, "whitewashing" the image wasn't part of the plan.

"Not for one moment did they ever say part of the demolition process was whitewashing the mural," Ortiz told TODAY, reports NBC News.

Ortiz went on to say, "For me to wake up Wednesday and find out they were painting the wall white, it was a shock."

"Casarez, who was Philadelphia's first director of LGBTQ affairs, died of cancer in 2014," NBC News noted. The mural went up the following year.

The building's sale to Midwood Investment and Development, a company from New York, had been previously announced, as had the building's impending destruction, WPVI said, but the company provided solace with the announcement that it wold partner with Mural Arts Philadelphia and commission Ortiz to create a new work that "would feature Gloria and Henry Minton, a leading Black abolitionist who once lived in the same location."

But now that partnership is in jeopardy, WPVI reported, quoting Mural Arts Philadelphia Executive Director Jane Golden, who said: "After this unexpected development, we cannot in good conscience move forward."

"When they go away, they have to go away with sensitivity and respect and we have to have time to mourn and acknowledge it," Golden said of public works of art like the mural that memorialize and celebrate community figures.

Ortiz took action, using the newly-painted wall as a blank screen for a projection of the mural's image. "Even though this mural has been whitewashed, her history is not gone," Ortiz told the media.

The city's Office of LGBT Affairs issued a statement that called the whitewashing job "an unnecessary insult to the memory of Gloria, who was beloved by so many," and went on to state that Casarez "deserves a tribute that is fitting of her prominence and dedication to the community," the news channel reported.

City Councilmember Mark Squilla also issued a statement in which he said he was "disappointed" in the move, which took place "without notification to him or Mural Arts or the community."

Squilla's statement added: "This act has undermined the agreement and the trust Mural Arts/the community had placed in Midwood."

Through a spokesperson, Midwood said: "We intend to honor our agreement with Mural Arts. This process and demolition has been planned and approved for months."

Watch the WPVI news clip below.