diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index fe2892736..3458e35d3 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -712,6 +712,9 @@ class Item(Model):
             album = self.get_album()
             if album and not album.items():
                 album.remove(delete, False)
+        
+        # Send a 'item_removed' signal to plugins
+        plugins.send('item_removed', item=self)
 
         # Delete the associated file.
         if delete:
diff --git a/docs/dev/plugins.rst b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
index 6feb73326..e18fc1584 100644
--- a/docs/dev/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ currently available are:
 * *item_moved*: called with an ``Item`` object whenever its file is moved.
   Parameters: ``item``, ``source`` path, ``destination`` path
 
+* *item_removed*: called with an ``Item`` object every time an item (singleton
+  or album's part) is removed from the library (even when its file is not
+  deleted from disk).
+
 * *write*: called with an ``Item`` object just before a file's metadata is
   written to disk (i.e., just before the file on disk is opened).