A small theater had 7 rows of 24 chairs each. Workers just removed 9 of these chairs. How many chairs are left?

To find the total number of chairs originally, you multiply the number of rows by the number of chairs in each row: 7 rows * 24 chairs/row = <<7*24=168>>168 chairs.

After removing 9 chairs, the remaining number of chairs would be: 168 chairs - 9 chairs = <<168-9=159>>159 chairs. Answer: \boxed{159}.