I think this is a new pattern (which I have also seen in some other submissions), maybe a sort of "extended Chesterton's Fence", where a person dutifully maintains a fence without ever asking why it's there, then at some point realizes they have no idea if that fence is even needed - and then promptly rip it out, in the belief that it must have been unnecessary the whole time, while still not asking anyone if that's actually the case.