Were people giving out names left and right? Were there links to people's Facebook profiles? If it's the thread I think it was, the answer is YES. And that's why it was deleted. The rules were broken. You break the rules, the thread dies. It's simple.
You want the thread to stay, don't break the rules, and report it when someone does so the individual posts can be deleted. Once it gets to a certain point, it's easier to delete the thread.
You want the thread to stay, don't break the rules, and report it when someone does so the individual posts can be deleted. Once it gets to a certain point, it's easier to delete the thread.