This issue was originally opened by @kvz as hashicorp/terraform#18931. It was migrated here as a result of the provider split. The original body of the issue is below.

Terraform Version

Terraform v0.11.8'

Terraform Configuration Files

An aws_launch_template used in an aws_autoscaling_group.

Expected Behavior

I noticed some local changes weren't propagating to the Launch Template (this was odd in itself), so
I deleted the Launch Template by hand, and ran Terraform plan, expecting that Terraform would spot a difference between actual & expected state and that it would be recreate a Launch Template with my new settings.

Actual Behavior

At the refresh stage, Terraform errors out:

Error: Error refreshing state: 1 error(s) occurred:

* module.region_euwest2.module.crossover.aws_launch_template.crossover: 1 error(s) occurred:

* module.region_euwest2.module.crossover.aws_launch_template.crossover: aws_launch_template.crossover: Error getting launch template: InvalidLaunchTemplateId.NotFound: Atleast one of the launch templates specified in the request does not exist.
	status code: 400, request id: e321a45b-f359-40b5-9d18-dea9ed9100c2

So I got in an unrecoverable state because refresh is a prerequisite for changes, destroys, launches (I think). I manually removed the Launch Template and any reference to it from the tfstate json, and then I was on my way again.