Kevin Costner in a scene from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Sherwood Forest (England), May 30 (Reuters): Nottingham advertising gurus have finally achieved what the evil Sheriff could never quite manage ? they’ve done away with Robin Hood.

The legendary forest thief who robbed from the medieval rich to give to the poor in nearby Sherwood Forest has had his image removed from the city’s logo and his old enemy’s successor is demanding that it be put back.

“Contrary to what the media says, Robin Hood and I, as far as I am concerned, are the best of friends,” Nottingham Sheriff and city councillor, Derek Cresswell, said.

Cresswell was “gobsmacked” when Nottingham’s advisers replaced Robin’s image on the city’s logo with a large, backward-leaning N as part of their efforts to reduce dependency on the outlaw to attract tourists and investors.

“How can we drop Robin Hood? We have got to get him back,” Cresswell said. “I am 100 per cent behind Robin.”

Other critics of the new N strategy point out that Robin Hood, immortalised on film by such silver screen greats as Errol Flynn and Kevin Costner (who played the outlaw in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), is Nottingham’s one defining, international symbol and impossible to replace.

That’s not surprising for residents of a city where the streets bear the names of Robin’s companions like Maid Marian Way, Sheriff’s Way, Robin Hood Street, have pubs named Friar Tuck Inn and a host of attractions dedicated to the archer.

“You may not want to have a green-tighted archer associated with your company, but a wonky, capital N?” said Worldwide Robin Hood Society chairman Bob White. “It has got the ridicule it deserves.”

The team behind the marketing change said cities like Nottingham need to break tradition to attract a new kind of visitor and, more importantly, new business.

“The majority of major institutions do not want to have a legendary 13th century bowman as what is uppermost about modern Nottingham,” Experience Nottingham chief John Heeley said.