Yes, you need to root to delete it.
Rooting is possible, it all depends on what type you have. (r800x is Verizon's version, and the dev's have cracked it recently and are working on finding a good way to deploy a SuperOneClick-esqe way to root, r800a and r800i it's also possible (r800i is europe and r800a is canada... i think...) but i haven't been paying attention because i have an r800x
)
Update: Rooting means to give yourself administrator privileges for your phone, similar in idea to jailbreaking an iPhone.
Update: r800x bootloader exploit has been (hopefully temporarily) closed, so in other words, you can't root