In LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, authorities are investigating the theft of a bronze statue of the former U.S. first lady Melania Trump, which was taken from her hometown. The statue was removed after being sawed off.
The statue, which is life-sized, was revealed in 2020 close to Sevnica in central Slovenia, marking the area where Melanija Knavs, born in 1970, grew up. It succeeded a wooden version that was destroyed by fire earlier in the same year.
Police representative Alenka Drenik Rangus reported on Friday that authorities received notification of the statue’s theft on Tuesday and are actively working to identify the culprits.
According to Slovenian media reports, the bronze replica was sawed off at the ankles and removed.
Franja Kranjc, who works at a bakery in Sevnica that sells cakes with Melania Trump’s name in support of the first lady, said the stolen statue won’t be missed.
“I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the first lady of the USA,” he said. “So I think its OK that it’s removed.”
The original wooden statue was torched in July 2020. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017. The replica bronze statue has no obvious resemblance with the first lady.
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