Deleting an older Backups.backupdb/(hostname) dirs from a Time Machine disk

Last year I replaced my old Xserve-G5 with a new MacPro. The Xserve had an external hard disk it used for Time Machine backups. I didn't format the disk when changing servers on the theory that I'd want to keep a few months of backup history.
Fast forward to today, and the backup disk is starting to get a bit full, and now that I have enough of a backup history, I want to delete the snapshots from the Xserve. If I try to:
sudo rm -rf /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb/Xserve/
I get a lot of "Operation Not Permitted" errors. Inspecting in "Server Admin" shows that there are ACLs setup on the per-host directories inside of Backups.backupdb set to Deny most activities. Any attempt to remove or change that ACL, or add your own 'Allow' ACLs show the changes get reset back to the single Deny rule immediately.
How do I claim back my space? Formatting would be an option, but would destroy my backup history. I would consider plugging it into an alternate (non-production) machine and booting it off the install DVD, but the drive is a DroboPro, which requires some drivers to work.

Enter Time Machine from the menu bar icon or Dock, select the appropriate backup then click on the gear button at the top of the Finder style window, you will see a delete back up option in the list.

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