No, some student didn't figure out how to steal the "T" , rather it was a symbol from the administration to the Tech students that the practice of stealing T's around campus has crossed the line from "cute" to "problematic". Various T stealing has made its way onto other college campuses and has begun to cost the Institute thousands of dollars.

Give Tech students an inch and they'll take a mile. Regardless of the message, the understanding of what means to see the Tech Tower without it's T's makes this image eerie to look at.