The decision to remove the monumental mural Telephone Men and Women at Work from the art deco New England Telephone building at 185 Franklin Street speaks to a depressing lack of taste on the part of Commonweatlh Ventures, which recently acquired the building from Verizon. How many marble-walled buildings out there come with stunning 190-foot murals? Colorful, hand-executed works that celebrate the achievements of those for whom the building was constructed?

Atrocities such as the 1963 demolition of the original New York Penn Station may seem unthinkable by current standards, but evidently even today, appreciation for art and architecture in harmony together is not universal.

At least Verizon claims to have preserved it somewhere. May telephone-inspired architecture continue to thrive elsewhere.