I don't think there is any way to remove these and not take a chunk of the
plaster with it. Your only hope would be to dent it in a little, with a
light touch of a hammer(carefully) and then fill the dent with plaster. Good
luck.
"Chris" wrote in message ...
Someone back in the past hung up a curtain rod to my plaster ceiling
with a sleeve type "Molly" anchor. I can't remove this anchor easily
and haven't been able to find encouraging news online. Does anyone know
how to remove this type of anchor without making a big mess? We're
patching the holes and about to paint. Thanks!

Here's what it looks like (sort of)

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4269106.pdf