The countdown board marking Macao's return to the motherland has completed its mission and was removed from Tian'anmen Square .

The board had been ticking off the hours until Macao's return for 594 days in the square after it was first erected on May 5, 1998.

The 16 meters tall and 9.6 meters wide board attracted some 6 million people who wanted to have their picture taken in front of it, according to local officials.

Workers began removing the board on Wednesday night using a 80- ton crane and four tow trucks.

The board's designers, the Beijing Ge Hua Group, said they planned to place it inside the China Revolutionary Museum by the square, but there was no room there large enough to hold it, so it has been left temporarily in a courtyard.

Macao returned to the motherland on December 20, more than two years after Hong Kong's return in 1997.