A symbolic link, or symlink, is a special type of file that points to another file or directory on the file system1. When creating a symbolic link with the ln command, the syntax is as follows:

ln -s target link

where target is the file or directory to link to, and link is the name of the symbolic link2. If the link name already exists, the ln command will fail and display an error message indicating that the target already exists3. This is because the ln command does not overwrite existing files or directories by default4. Therefore, the only way to create a symbolic link with the same name as an existing file or directory is to manually remove the existing target first, and then run the ln command again. Alternatively, the ln command can be used with the -f (force) option, which will remove the existing target and create the symbolic link in one step4. However, this option is not mentioned in the question, so the correct answer is A.

References: 1: How to Create Symbolic Links in Linux [Complete Guide] - Linux Handbook 2: Ln Command in Linux (Create Symbolic Links) | Linuxize 3: How to Create and Use Symbolic Links (aka Symlinks) on Linux - How-To Geek 4: Symbolic Links in Unix/Linux - Stack Abuse