Police called to X headquarters after Twitter rebrand to stop workers removing sign

San Francisco police were called to Twitter’s HQ on Monday to stop construction workers from removing the building’s sign after Elon Musk rebranded the social media platform to ‘X’.

On one side of the building, only the blue bird and the letters “er" were left.

Twitter has occupied offices at 10th and Market Street in San Francisco since 2012 but it is not clear whether the owners of the building will allow the remaining Twitter branding to be removed.

It comes as Twitter’s owner Elon Musk on Monday unveiled a new ‘X’ logo for the social media giant, killing off its iconic blue bird symbol. The logo was projected onto the firm’s building on Monday night.

Police at the scene at Twitter HQ after the sign is dismantled (Getty Images)

The new logo, a white ‘X’ on a black background, was criticised widely by users with the hashtag ‘GoodbyeTwitter’ trending on the platform.

Musk on Sunday first unveiled the new logo on Sunday, telling users: “Soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”

The entrepreneur, the world’s richest man, has said that he hopes to create an “everything app”, called X.

Musk bought x.com back from PayPal in 2017, saying it had “sentimental value”. Musk had co-founded x.com as an online bank in 1999 which later transformed into PayPal.

Twitter’s official page on the platform has been renamed as "X" and the domain x.com now links to Twitter.

Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the company has faced tumultuous times with layoffs, a sharp drop in advertisers and the meteoric rise of Threads, Meta’s Twitter rival.

Former advertising chief at NBCUniversal Linda Yaccarino has been drafted in as Twitter’s CEO in a bid to reverse a plunge in the social media giant’s advertising revenue.

Ms Yaccarino, who started the post on June 5, said that the new X app would “go even further to transform the global town square."

She said: “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.

“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”