Yes, remove it for sure, but verify that air valve opens when the engine is up to operating temperatures. It looks like its wedging open the air valve that determines whether your engine is getting colder air(from the usual intake path) or hotter air(from a shroud around the exhaust manifold). With the log in place, you’ll have slower warmups. OTOH if the valve is failed-shut(without the log), that will make your car always get hot air and it’ll result in lower power after warmup.

Previous owner definitely didn’t do this on purpose. Yes, it should be removed. They backed up into a tree/shrub my guy

Is that an old carb/tbi air cleaner? If so what they are doing is wedging open the thermac air valve- maybe the vacuum motor failed (if it’s vacuum operated) or temp sensor or whatever. I’d test it out, if it works I’d hook it back up. If it doesn’t work and you can’t find part to fix it then I’d look for a less obstructive way to hold it open, or remove it completely. They run a lot better in the winter with this functioning btw.