Aside from cliches like hockey and maple syrup, the only truly Canadian national treasure I can name is Drake's beard. From the robust fullness of the neck and lower chin, it tapers to the perfectly trimmed sides of his face and then fades into his hair, which is shorter than the beard as a whole. It's become a cultural icon, effectively transforming how men think of the neck beard and the appropriate hair-to-beard ratio. Here it is in all its glory:

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What a beard! The current iteration appeared sometime last summer, coinciding with Drake shaving less and working out more. And now, it's allegedly gone:

I don't know why the actual fuck Drake would do this. According to a now-deleted Instagram post, the beard will be "making an epic come back in 2 weeks." The Instagram post also claims he did it for Saturday Night Live.

But he had the beard during his taping on The Tonight Show yesterday, which means it must have been removed sometime yesterday afternoon or evening. Why did he do it? Here are our theories:

There never was a beard. It was a result of hundreds of thousands of hours of labor by trained CGI technicians who went on strike late Thursday because of poor working conditions.

Like the New York Yankees, Saturday Night Live recently adopted a strict no-facial-hair policy.

Kanye West's Drake mask fell out the bathroom window and was run over by a truck.

The beard had to be shaved to revive his role as Jimmy on the Degrassi reunion series, coming to Netflix this fall.

Meek Mill replaced Drake's beard oil with hair remover.

For the last five years, the character of Drake has been performed by a revolving cast of skilled method actors. The latest, who was bearded, was fired after a workplace dispute.

Drake's beard is finally launching its solo career.

Drake kept getting cheesecake in it.

Drake didn't actually shave the beard. The photo was old, and he shared it in a genius ploy to build some meme hype before his SNL appearance. The man is a viral marketing master.

Drake, on the run from authorities, needed to change his appearance as he attempts to prove his own innocence.

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