More than two and a half years ago, the Church of Scientology opened a mission to some fanfare in Carytown. Now it is no longer.

Within the past week or so, the church’s sign was removed from the corner of Cary and Nansemond streets.

Though the mission closed several months ago, “Scientology is very much alive and well in the Richmond area,” the Rev. Susan Taylor, president of the Church of Scientology in Washington, wrote in an email Friday to Style Weekly.

Mat Pastore “is continuing to deliver services from his Dianetics Center in the Richmond area,” Taylor said.

Taylor didn’t know where that local center was, she said, referring questions to Pastore. Reached Thursday, Pastore only would confirm the center’s closure and declined to comment further.

Scientology and its undergirding belief system, Dianetics, were created by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who founded the church in 1954. According to the church’s website, there are more than 9,000 churches, missions, related organizations and affiliated groups in 165 countries.