PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The iconic Liberty Bell's latter-day twin, bestowed to the city as a bicentennial gift from Britain, was removed from its hulking tower at a defunct visitors center on Thursday and placed in storage.

The Bicentennial Bell was cast in the same British foundry as the original, a symbol of the U.S. as familiar as the Stars and Stripes, and had been presented to Philadelphia by Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate America's 200th birthday.

The National Park Service on Thursday removed the six-ton bell from its 130-foot-tall brick tower, an imposing square column that may have seemed like a good design in the 1970s but effectively hid the bell from view. The tower and its equally inhospitable-looking neighbor, a box-like brick building that formerly was a visitors center, were constructed for the bicentennial and are being demolished for a new Revolutionary War museum.