POULSBO — With his necklace of hearts, the mighty Norseman looks like a big softy.

Adelaide Krafsky, 8, of Lofall had the idea to decorate the 12-foot monument for Valentine’s Day, and wrote the mayor seeking permission to do so. Mayor Becky Erickson granted permission — with the warning to be careful, because the statue is so large. And so the Krafskys set out to give the Norseman a Valentine’s Day touch.

The idea came up during a dinnertime discussion about the Viking statue, located at Viking Avenue and Lindvig Way. “I was just kind of kidding around” that the imposing statue should be decorated with hearts for Valentine’s Day, Adelaide said. The family talked about it and thought it was a good idea, and so Adelaide wrote Mayor Erickson about it.

“The new Viking needs a heart necklace and hearts around his horns for Valentine’s Day,” Adelaide wrote. “Can I have permission to put them on? My Dad can help me.”

On Feb. 9, the mayor called Adelaide and gave her permission.

The family bought red and pink plastic heart boxes at the Dollar Tree, glued th

e lids onto the boxes, drilled holes in each heart and strung them together. Adelaide’s dad, David, climbed a ladder and tied the necklace around the Norseman’s neck.

Aimee Krafsky, Adelaide’s mother, said the decorating of the Norseman attracted the attention of passersby; it was 4:30 p.m. “It was pretty quick, but it’s a very busy intersection and people were walking by,” she said.

Adelaide is a homeschooler who participates in Leikarringen — Norwegian folk dancing — at the Poulsbo Sons of Norway. Her mom said the family does not have Norwegian ancestry, “but we love Poulsbo and we love the Norwegian heritage of the city.”

Adelaide said she likes the mayor’s idea of someone knitting — as Erickson wrote in her 2013 forecast for the Herald — “a great, huge green scarf for the Norseman for St. Patrick’s Day.”

That could happen. Meanwhile, Adelaide’s creative touch moved a passerby to leave a Valentine’s Day tribute to the Norseman on the low wall in front of the statue: A heart-shaped Cookie Monster button, propped up on a bed of mulch.

The Norseman, a sculpture by artist Mark Gale, was unveiled at Nov. 23. The project was organized by Poulsbo booster Bill Austin and was funded by the Bjorgen Beautification Fund. At the time of the unveiling, Erickson said the Norseman is a symbol of the revitalization that is creeping along Viking Avenue.