Yep, it's true. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the original NES game that released in 1989, has been yanked from Nintendo's Virtual Console service in all regions, and there's no word on when or even if the classic will return.
The game was originally taken down with no word as to why, but Konami PR recently confirmed that it was removed due to an expired license.
The good news is that if you already purchased the game on the Virtual Console, you can still redownload it if needed. If you didn't snatch it when it was added to the VC in 2007, then you're shell out of luck.
[Source]