$ mkdir a
$ ln -s a b
$ ls -l
total 0
drwxrwxr-x 2 bob bob 40 Jun 11 01:54 a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bob bob  1 Jun 11 01:54 b -> a
$ rm b
$ ls -l
total 0
drwxrwxr-x 2 bob bob 40 Jun 11 01:54 a
$