The removal is part of heritage conservation efforts. The management board of the UNESCO heritage site in Ninh Binh Province said work on dismantling the film set started Friday, September 20.

The dismantlement is being done on the recommendation of UNESCO, which said the film set stood in the core area of the limestone complex. It had been agreed that the set will be kept only until for some time after the movie was released in 2017.

However, the popularity of the film has decreased in the two years since, UNESCO noted.

The film set, with around 40 rattan tents and daily-life tools which are part of a tribal village depicted in the movie, was open free to visitors since April 2017. Models of a ship and airplane resembling those in the film were also on display.

Authorities in Ninh Binh turned the set into a popular tourist attraction as part of a package of activities for visitors to the Trang An tourism complex.

The Kong: Skull Island film set at Trang An tourism complex.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts the film was shot in Trang An of Ninh Binh, the central province of Quang Binh and Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh in 2016. It crossed the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office.

UNESCO recognized Trang An as a world heritage in 2014 for "a mixed cultural and natural property where archaeological traces of human activity over 30,000 years have been found."

The complex is also home to Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries AD. The area boasts many temples, pagodas, paddy fields and small villages.

Ninh Binh welcomed 7.3 million visitors in 2018, up 4.6 percent compared to 2017, of which 876,930 were foreigners, up 2.1 percent. The province earned nearly VND3.2 trillion ($132 million) from tourism, up 19.2 percent, according to Ninh Binh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

It aims to receive 7.6 million visitors this year.