Authorities in Melania Trump’s native Slovenia are probing the disappearance of a life-size statue depicting the First Lady, which was housed in her birthplace.
Slovenian police were first notified Tuesday that the bronze likeness had been stolen from the riverside tree trunk pillar on which it sat, near Sevnica, multiple outlets report. An investigation is underway into what they believe to be “theft,” per BBC News.
The controversial tribute — which was itself a replacement of Ales “Maxi” Zupevc’s doomed wooden interpretation of Trump’s first inauguration dress — was apparently sawed off at the ankle’s, as just the feet remain planted to the trunk.
AP Photo/Relja Dusek
The ankles of the bronze statue of Melania Trump remain on a tree stump Friday, in Sevnica, Slovenia. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
The original “Melania” depiction debuted in July 2019, only for arsonists to lay claim to it the following summer. After that, the cast that American artist Brad Downey had already made of Maxi’s creation replaced its more fragile predecessor.
Such a “durable material” was chosen so that the statue would prove “as solid as possible,” Downey said at the sequel’s debut in July 2020, per BBC News. This way, it “cannot be wantonly destroyed,” or so they thought.
The First Lady and original artist Maxi were born the same year in the same Slovenian hospital, CNN reports.
It’s not just the thieves and arsonists who have taken issue with the art piece.
Franja Kranjc, who works at a local bakery that sells Trump-themed cakes, told The Associated Press: “I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the First Lady of the U.S.A.
“So I think it’s OK that it’s removed,” determined Kranjc.
With News Wire Services
