Core: Don't reset snapshotLog in TableMetadata.removeRef method

core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadata.java

@@ -1286,7 +1286,6 @@ public Builder setRef(String name, SnapshotRef ref) {
     public Builder removeRef(String name) {
       if (SnapshotRef.MAIN_BRANCH.equals(name)) {
         this.currentSnapshotId = -1;
-        snapshotLog.clear();
       }
 
       SnapshotRef ref = refs.remove(name);

core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestTableMetadata.java

@@ -1693,6 +1693,24 @@ public void buildReplacementKeepsSnapshotLog() throws Exception {
         .containsExactlyElementsOf(metadata.snapshotLog());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void removeRefKeepsSnapshotLog() throws Exception {
+    TableMetadata metadata =
+        TableMetadataParser.fromJson(readTableMetadataInputFile("TableMetadataV2Valid.json"));
+    assertThat(metadata.currentSnapshot()).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(metadata.snapshots()).hasSize(2);
+    assertThat(metadata.snapshotLog()).hasSize(2);
+
+    TableMetadata removeRef =
+        TableMetadata.buildFrom(metadata).removeRef(SnapshotRef.MAIN_BRANCH).build();
+
+    assertThat(removeRef.currentSnapshot()).isNull();
+    assertThat(removeRef.snapshots()).hasSize(2).containsExactlyElementsOf(metadata.snapshots());
+    assertThat(removeRef.snapshotLog())
+        .hasSize(2)
+        .containsExactlyElementsOf(metadata.snapshotLog());
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testConstructV3Metadata() {
     TableMetadata.newTableMetadata(

core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.FileScanTask;
 import org.apache.iceberg.FilesTable;
 import org.apache.iceberg.HasTableOperations;
+import org.apache.iceberg.HistoryEntry;
 import org.apache.iceberg.PartitionSpec;
 import org.apache.iceberg.ReachableFileUtil;
 import org.apache.iceberg.ReplaceSortOrder;
@@ -2152,6 +2153,39 @@ public void testReplaceTransactionRequiresTableExists() {
         .hasMessageStartingWith("Table does not exist: newdb.table");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testReplaceTableKeepsSnapshotLog() {
+    C catalog = catalog();
+
+    if (requiresNamespaceCreate()) {
+      catalog.createNamespace(TABLE.namespace());
+    }
+
+    catalog.createTable(TABLE, SCHEMA);
+
+    Table table = catalog.loadTable(TABLE);
+    table.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_A).commit();
+
+    List<HistoryEntry> snapshotLogBeforeReplace =
+        ((BaseTable) table).operations().current().snapshotLog();
+    assertThat(snapshotLogBeforeReplace).hasSize(1);
+    HistoryEntry snapshotBeforeReplace = snapshotLogBeforeReplace.get(0);
+
+    Transaction replaceTableTransaction = catalog.newReplaceTableTransaction(TABLE, SCHEMA, false);
+    replaceTableTransaction.newAppend().appendFile(FILE_A).commit();
+    replaceTableTransaction.commitTransaction();
+    table.refresh();
+
+    List<HistoryEntry> snapshotLogAfterReplace =
+        ((BaseTable) table).operations().current().snapshotLog();
+    HistoryEntry snapshotAfterReplace = snapshotLogAfterReplace.get(1);
+
+    assertThat(snapshotAfterReplace).isNotEqualTo(snapshotBeforeReplace);
+    assertThat(snapshotLogAfterReplace)
+        .hasSize(2)
+        .containsExactly(snapshotBeforeReplace, snapshotAfterReplace);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testConcurrentReplaceTransactions() {
     C catalog = catalog();