I have this code working instead since the original post code didn't work...
Code:
<vb:if condition="$forum['statusicon'] == old"><img src="{vb:stylevar imgdir_statusicon}/{vb:raw forum.imageprefix}category_forum_link.png" class="forumicon" id="forum_statusicon_{vb:raw forum.forumid}"/> <vb:else />
<img src="{vb:stylevar imgdir_statusicon}/{vb:raw forum.imageprefix}category_forum_link.png" class="forumicon" id="forum_statusicon_{vb:raw forum.forumid}"/></vb:if>
you can replace the statusicon
category_forum_link.png with anything you like.
it is tested and works fine on my vb4.2