rip the heart out of (something)
To remove, destroy, devastate, or totally undermine some essential or important aspect of something. This move by the government is going to force a lot of factories to close and rip the heart out of communities around the country. Senators added a number of amendments meant to rip the heart out of the tax bill.
ˌrip/ˌtear the ˈheart out of something
destroy the most important part or aspect of something: Protestors say that closing the factory will tear the heart out of the local economy.