While some knew him as a notorious criminal, others thought highly enough of Rupert Elroy Archibald to erect a tribute in his honour.

Across the street from where Roger Redman was murdered in the 1986 robbery of Hayward's supermarket, for which Mr. Archibald was originally convicted, three sheets were hung on Pembroke Hamilton Club wall and words were sprayed on the curb by his "street brothers" who wished to pay their respects.

PHC president Chris Furbert said he had asked those responsible for the tribute to take down the sheet featuring the handgun.

"I can see what they were trying to do in principle but the problem I have is with the guns. There's no way that the PHC can support anything like that," he said.

A 41-year-old, who wished to be identified as "Man", and claimed he grew up with Mr. Archibald in Warwick, said Mr. Archibald was not the monster others have made him out to be.

He said that Mr. Archibald was like a "General" to other men in that area of Warwick, who call themselves the "Rubber Tree Crew".

"He fell on hard times, but a lot of the guys from the area that went jail, he stopped them from coming back out and doing a lot of ignorance," he said. "He wasn't all what they made him out to be. He was a sweet person. If you knew Elroy Rupert, you'd probably marry him. He was sweet like that.

Mr. Archibald, 41, died in hospital on Monday following an apparent heart attack. He was serving a 30-year prison sentence for the 1997 armed robbery of the Bank of Bermuda in Somerset.

"Yah boy was real. He was a die hard. He wasn't a `gangsta'. He was a realist. Quite frankly, those that it offends doesn't make a difference. Those that know him know what we are dealing with.

But he said that the reason he did not wish to share his name was because he used to "look out" for Mr. Archibald "hard" and has been in trouble with the Police.

Far too young to have known Mr. Archibald, a 21-year-old said it was "nice" that the tribute had been put up. "Yah boy's dead. We put up a tribute out of respect."

Mr. Archibald served two thirds of a 15-year reduced sentence for the 1986 armed robbery of Hayward's supermarket and murder of Roger Redman, after the murder conviction and attempted murder conviction were quashed on appeal.

Last night, Mrs. Redman said she could not speak about the tribute until she had seen it.

Mr. Furbert said: "They are saying that the Police are trying to depict him in one way or another but all the people are going to see is the gun and I'm concerned that the sheets are up there depicting that.

"If his friends want to pay tribute to him then I'm sure they can do it without that. I've said that it signifies a disrespect to Mr. Hayward across the street. They can do it differently than putting guns on the sheets."