Blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs logos that were stencilled on city sidewalks are fading faster than the team's playoff hopes.

"They will all be gone tonight [Thursday]," said Michael Gillissie, vice-president of Grassroots Advertising. "I don't see what all the fuss is about. They will all be cleaned off."

Gillissie and his company have drawn heat from city for stencilling the logos on sidewalks.

All advertising is banned from public sidewalks, city officials said.

On Thursday, the city gave Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment 48 hours to clean up the logos that were part of a campaign by Grassroots to mark the start of the NHL season.

The blue emblems, accompanied by the phrase, "Leafs Nation. Spirit is Everything," began appearing in early October outside subway stations and along major streets.

MLSE spokesman Rajani Kamath said more than 65% of the logos had been removed by early Thursday.

Her officials believed Grassroots had permission to stencil the logos on city sidewalks, she said.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," Kamath said.

If Grassroots didn't remove the logos, city staff would remove them and then bill the company, said Angie Antoniou, of Toronto traffic services.