If deletion is not possible, I'd argue creation is impossible. If nothing can never be deleted (only a change of state is possible, like you said) then nothing can ever be created (for the exact same reason). It's all nothing but a big perpetual transformation.

Perhaps what the users are asking for is for you think of deletion as a change of configuration or state from, say "1" (now you see it) to "0" (now you don't).