Has anyone ever seen a pokestop/gym removed?
Assuming someone didn't officially request a pokestop or gym to be removed, has anyone ever seen one removed from the game. I ask because 2 of the landmarks in my town that represented gyms are now gone. One was a sculpture that was taken out in a car accident and another was a popular business that moved to a different location. I've noticed the pictures of certain stops have changed recently (ingress player updating???). Is there a chance these gyms/stops will be removed? Does it benefit an ingress player to report them as gone? Would hate to see two of our gyms disappear even though technically... they already have!
Answers
We have a gym at a water tower that was only accessible by either stepping a few feet off the walking trail next to it or by parking in the parking lot of the daycare/preschool next to it. The daycare happened to be a pokestop as well. I avoided both during operational hours.
The gym was relatively rarely used pre update, but then there was a tyranitar raid in the afternoon one day. The cops were called and the group was broken up. Less than 3 days later, the pokestop was removed and the gym was moved so that it is now more easily accessible from the trail. And now all local players know to park and walk to that gym.
Yes, I had a gym and two pokestops near my house removed just after the gym revamp in June.
This was the closest gym to me, so was a bit annoying to lose.
The gym an one of the pokestops was at a school, while the second pokestop was at a neighbouring school. I guess that the school authorities had lodged a complaint.