Kyrgyzstan has taken down a huge statue of the revolutionary Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which was thought to be the tallest in Central Asia.

First erected when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, the 23m-tall monument towered over the city of Osh for 50 years before it was quietly removed this week.

Photos emerged on Saturday showing the communist revolutionary – who features prominently in Soviet iconography – lying on his back on the ground, having been lowered by crane.

Many former Soviet republics have recently sought to recast their national identities with less emphasis on their previous ties to Russia, though local officials downplayed the decision to move the statue.

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan will be aware of the risk of offending its ally, Russia, a week after the latter unveiled a brand new statue of another Soviet figurehead, Josef Stalin, in Moscow.

A statement from City Hall in Osh – the landlocked nation’s second-largest city after the capital, Bishkek – said the figure would be relocated as part of “common practice” aimed at improving the “architectural and aesthetic appearance” of the city.

It pointed to examples of Lenin statues previously being taken down in Russia.

The statue will be replaced by a flagpole, as was the case when a different Lenin statue was relocated in Bishek, according to local media.

Kyrgyzstan gained its independence 34 years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed.

But reminders of its Soviet history can be found across the country, even where there are no statues. For instance, its second-tallest mountain is named Lenin Peak.