I don't know the details of this specific change, but in my experience its removal probably means it couldn't be left alone. If another piece of code that touches it gets refactored, the developer has to choose between trying to spend time fixing it, or just removing it. If it's an unpopular feature then removing it can be seen as the most reasonable option.

And I know I've said this already but taking those "way too many steps" is exactly what you'd be asking them to do, so it's unclear why it's not worth it for you but it would be for them.