Elon Musk's X removes illegal sign from roof of its San Francisco headquarters

By Mike Murphy

The controversial "X" sign hastily erected on the roof of Elon Musk's social-network company in downtown San Francisco was taken down Monday.

The removal came after city building inspectors were twice denied entry to the former Twitter headquarters on Friday and Saturday to inspect the structure, which was built Friday without a required permit and appeared to be held in place with sandbags. City officials had said the sign was illegal and needed to be removed. The sign also reportedly violated specific terms of the building's lease.

Read more:Elon Musk's X blocks San Francisco building inspectors from giant rooftop sign

Video from NBC Bay Area reporter Scott Budman on Monday showed the giant "X" no longer atop the historic building.

Getty photojournalist Justin Sullivan also captured the dismantling scene:

The "X" sign had lit up and pulsed at night, drawing complaints from neighbors in nearby residential buildings.

Also see: Elon Musk just might have a plan for X, but the rest of us may end up footing the bill

Musk has repeatedly sparred with San Francisco city officials and flouted numerous city regulations since taking over what was then Twitter last October.

When asked for comment Monday, X replied with an auto-generated "We'll get back to you soon" message, a change from the poop emoji that for months had been the default response to press inquiries..

-Mike Murphy

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07-31-23 2127ET

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