NEW YORK: The mayor of Madonna’s hometown has risen to the city’s honor after the pop superstar said she would never want to return to such a “provincial” place.

The mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan — a city of some 80,000 people around 80 km north of Detroit — invited the 56-year-old star to come back for a fresh look after she told an interviewer that she “can’t be around basic, provincial-thinking people” there.

“We are many things, Madonna, but ‘basic and provincial-minded’ we are not!” Mayor Bryan Barnett wrote in an open letter published Tuesday in Detroit-area media.

Barnett said that Madonna was enshrined in the community wall of fame at the Van Hoosen Museum, named after an early female surgeon.

“Madonna, you have achieved unbelievable success and while we appreciate your talent and achievement, we expect you to appreciate ours,” Barnett wrote.