Melania Trump statue stolen in Slovenia

A bronze statue of US First Lady Melania Trump has been stolen from near her home town of Sevnica in eastern Slovenia. The incident is being investigated by police.

The bronze statue stood on a tree stump by the Sava River in the village of Rožno. It replaced of an earlier wooden Melania statue that was destroyed by arsonists in 2020, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

According to media reports, the bronze replica has been sawed off at the ankles and removed.

Police visited the crime scene as the theft was reported on 13 May. They opened an investigation and also notified the district state prosecutor and investigating judge, the Novo Mesto Police Department said as quoted by the news portal N1.

The original life-size wooden statue of Melania was erected in 2019. Designed by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey, it was made by local folk artist Aleš Župevc - Maxi using a chainsaw.

Placed on a three-metre tree stump, it was painted in a pale blue wraparound coat resembling the one Melania wore during her husband Donald Trump's first inauguration as US president in 2017.

The statue was widely criticised at the time for being ugly and unbecoming of the first lady.

It was torched by unidentified arsonists on the eve of July 4, US Independence Day, in 2020. Two months later it was replaced by a bronze replica which Downey and his Slovenian associate Rok Pahor placed on the same stump.

A similar fate befell a large-scale wooden effigy of Melania's husband in December 2020. It was destroyed by arson in Moravče, east of Ljubljana after it was relocated there from a small village near Kamnik, north of Ljubljana, because the locals were unhappy with it.

Sevnica, a town with a population of 5,000, is very proud of Melania Trump, who grew up there. Since she first became US first lady, the town has launched many Melania-themed products such as cakes, wine, chocolate, tea, salami and a beauty cream.