Chicagoans are protesting what they say feels like an invasion by the British after the London-based insurance company Willis Group was granted naming rights over the Sears Tower in Chicago.

Next month, the tallest building in North America will be renamed the Willis Tower after the group takes over just three floors of the structure, or less than 4 percent of its office space — but not without the ire of protesters. An online petition has already garnered 33,000 signatures. A Facebook group has 95,000 members. Chicago papers are chattering about "Big Willie." "It's nothingpersonal against the UK, the Brits or Willis Group," said Gerald Skoning, a Chicago lawyer whose father oversaw construction ofthe tower as vice-president of real estate for Sears. "It's just thatChicagoans don't take kindly to people renaming their icons."

Read more at the Guardian.