"The artists argue the removal of the mural was in violation of their rights, specifically the legally-required preservation of their work, under the Visual Artists Rights Act" (UPDATED 2X)

 "Artists of iconic mural at the Stud sue building owner for 'whitewashing' their work."

UPDATE: Brian Boucher picks up the story at artnet. He gets quotes from Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento ("Do these property owners simply wish to not seek legal advice from lawyers? Or, if they do, do they simply disregard the advice?") and Amy Adler ("[VARA is] incompatible with deep-seated American notions of what it means to own property, and the idea that if you own something, you can do whatever you want with it").

UPDATE 2: Brian Frye says "the discussion of 'recognized stature' should be interesting in the case of this work." Andrew Gilden adds that it's "really hard to assess [a] VARA claim when you subjectively mourn the loss of a particular queer art/space but fear that the space lacks sufficiently 'recognized stature' within the community more broadly."