move_base global costmap is not updated when removing an object/obstacle from the environment

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In the meantime I have managed to find the solution for my problem by using the information found in this question.

What did it for me was setting the combination method to 0 for the obstacles_laser layer and reordering the layer plugins in both the local and global costmaps. I will add the updated costmap configurations here for future reference for people that might still bump into this issue the same way that I did!

costmap_common.yaml

footprint: [[-0.475, -0.34], [-0.475, 0.34], [0.475, 0.34], [0.475, -0.34]]
footprint_padding: 0.02

robot_base_frame: sampo_base_footprint
update_frequency: 8.0  # Default 4.0
publish_frequency: 6.0  # Default 3.0
transform_tolerance: 0.5

resolution: 0.05

#always_send_full_costmap: true

inflation:
    inflation_radius: 1.0

#layer definitions
static:
    map_topic: /map
    subscribe_to_updates: false

virtual_walls_static_map:
    map_topic: /virtual_walls_map
    subscribe_to_updates: true
    use_maximum: true  
    track_unknown_space: false  

obstacles_laser:
    obstacle_range: 5.0
    raytrace_range: 5.0
    combination_method: 0
    observation_sources: ultrasonics_warn ultrasonics_alert camera_1_obstacles camera_2_obstacles camera_3_obstacles camera_4_obstacles camera_1_laser camera_2_laser camera_3_laser camera_4_laser
    camera_1_laser: {data_type: LaserScan, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_1/laser_scan}
    camera_2_laser: {data_type: LaserScan, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_2/laser_scan}
    camera_3_laser: {data_type: LaserScan, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_3/laser_scan}
    camera_4_laser: {data_type: LaserScan, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_4/laser_scan}
    camera_1_obstacles: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_1/obstacles_cloud}
    camera_2_obstacles: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_2/obstacles_cloud}
    camera_3_obstacles: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_3/obstacles_cloud}
    camera_4_obstacles: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: /camera_4/obstacles_cloud}
    ultrasonics_warn: {data_type: PointCloud, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /ultrasonic/warn_point_cloud/combined}
    ultrasonics_alert: {data_type: PointCloud, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /ultrasonic/alert_point_cloud/combined}
    #laser: {data_type: LaserScan, clearing: true, marking: true, topic: camera/laser_scan, inf_is_valid: true, obstacle_range: 5.5, raytrace_range: 6.0}
    #camera_1_ground: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /camera_1/ground_cloud, obstacle_range: 5.5, raytrace_range: 6.0}
    #camera_2_ground: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /camera_2/ground_cloud, obstacle_range: 5.5, raytrace_range: 6.0}
    #camera_3_ground: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /camera_3/ground_cloud, obstacle_range: 5.5, raytrace_range: 6.0}
    #camera_4_ground: {data_type: PointCloud2, clearing: false, marking: true, topic: /camera_4/ground_cloud, obstacle_range: 5.5, raytrace_range: 6.0}

costmap_local.yaml

local_costmap:
  global_frame: map  
  rolling_window: true

  static_map: false

  plugins:
    - {name: obstacles_laser,           type: "costmap_2d::ObstacleLayer"}
    - {name: virtual_walls_static_map,  type: "costmap_2d::StaticLayer"}
    - {name: inflation,                 type: "costmap_2d::InflationLayer"}

costmap_global_static.yaml

global_costmap:
  global_frame: map
  rolling_window: false
  track_unknown_space: true

  plugins:
    - {name: static,                   type: "costmap_2d::StaticLayer"}
    - {name: obstacles_laser,          type: "costmap_2d::ObstacleLayer"}
    - {name: virtual_walls_static_map, type: "costmap_2d::StaticLayer"}
    - {name: inflation,                type: "costmap_2d::InflationLayer"}

Thanks @tryan for pointing me to the thread that helped me solve the issue! Hope this answer will help others in the future!