Deny from all - respond with 404 statuscode instead of 403

I use Apache directory directives to block access to certain media on a site. But instead of blocking access to something, I want to hide it by responding with a 404. How can I do it? And is it possible without using mod rewrite?

The only way i can think of is with mod_rewrite
Options +FollowSymLinks

RewriteEngine On

RewriteRule ^thedirectory(/.*)?$ /404 [L]