Melania Trump statue in Slovenia goes missing after being cut from feet, locals react: ‘It’s so bizarre’

Melania Trump's replica bronze statue, cut at its ankles, was erected after the original statue, a wooden sculpture, was torched in 2020.

Melania Trump’s larger-than-life-size avatar at her Slovenian hometown, Sevnica, was sawed off and carried away. The matter sparked a police investigation, and the authorities are working to apprehend those responsible for the disappearance of the bronze statue.

A life-size bronze statue of Melania Trump was cut at the ankles. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, Relja Dusek)

When was the statue erected?

The statue, which looked nothing like US First Lady Melania Trump, was a replica. It was unveiled during President Donald Trump's first term in 2020. Slovenian media reported that the bronze replica was sawn off at the ankles and removed.

The sculpture, created by American conceptual artist Brad Downey, was erected to replace a torched and destroyed wooden statue of Melania Trump.

The wooden statue was made from the trunk of a linden tree. It showed her in a pale blue dress, resembling the one she wore at her husband Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017.

Investigation is underway:

Alenka Drenik Rangus, a police spokesperson, said an investigation was launched after the authorities were informed about the theft on Tuesday. She added that the police are working on tracking those who stole the statue.

How are the locals reacting?

“I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the first lady of the USA," Franja Kranjc, a bakery worker said, adding, "So I think its OK that it's removed.” Kranjc works in a bakery that sells cakes with Melania Trump's name.

"Melania is rarely seen in the spotlight or anywhere else, and even when she does do something, it’s so bizarre, so I don’t even want to think about her that much,” said a local, Igor Pavkovic, to the New York Times. He recalled that he laughed the first time he saw the statue.

Brad Downey, the statue’s artist, said he is a “bit sad” that the sculpture is gone, according to a report by the New York Post. Downey added, “My feeling is that it has something to do with the new election [of Donald Trump], but who knows, right?”

Melania Trump was born in Slovenia on April 26, 1970, and came to the US in 1996. Ten years later, she became a citizen of the United States of America. She married Donald Trump in 2005, and the couple has a son, Barron Trump.