<p>Comedian Yakov Smirnoff's Ground Zero art installation, which served as an iconic backdrop for Sept. 11 commemoration ceremonies, has been removed from a downtown Manhattan skyscraper.</p>
<p>Just days before the finalists for a permanent World Trade Center memorial were unveiled last month, the 200-foot tall patriotic mural was torn in a wind storm. It had hung for over a year from the scaffolding that encases 90 West Street, a damaged building across from where the south tower stood.</p>