I'm thinking they did it cause of the following: I have a grand plasma TV for sale, the best out there. You begin bidding and the whole thing climbs up to say 2000 bucks. Then I come in and make a change "oh sorry I made a mistake in discription, it's not a 2000 buck plasma TV, but a 900 buck Rembrandt painting!"
So the bid is still at 2000 bucks. Are you gonna pay 2000 bucks for a 900 buck Rembrandt painting? Some people would definitely do that, but certainly not all of them. And it being for charity is no excuse because what person in their right minds would want to collect money this way for charitity? Contradiction from A to Z. Headline: Britney Spears contradicts self! etc.
Taking it off eliminates all possible misunderstandings, and maybe putting it back up some time later. Therefore I agree with them that it was the smart thing to do to take it off.
They were originally going to restart the bidding with the new description. And if that fetches up money, what's wrong with that?