A life-size bronze statue of Melania Trump has been stolen from Slovenia: All you need to know about it
Image credits: X/@OnlyMelaniaTR
The First Lady of the United States of America,
Melania Trump
, is a personality of fascination for many as she rarely makes appearances at formal events and seldom speaks with the public at them. However, for
Sevnica
, a town in Slovenia, she is a woman to be revered.
This is because the FLOTUS, who married Trump in 2005, was born on April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia, now Slovenia, to parents Viktor and Amalija Knavs. The two-time first lady grew up in the small town of Sevnica, which is now famous for being her homeland and attracts tourists from across the globe.
When a resident from a town makes it big in life and in the world, the most common way to pay homage to their hard work is through the erection of their statue. Thus, the people of Sevnica did the same when they erected a
life-size bronze statue
of Melania in the town in 2020.
The statue was made to replace the wooden one that had been set on fire the same year.
However, now, according to the local police, the statue of the First Lady has been stolen from the town. It has been chopped off at the ankles and removed, said the police in a statement. "The theft was reported on 13 May and immediately police officers visited the crime scene and launched an investigation," said Alenka Drenik Rangus, a police spokesperson on Thursday.
Melania Trump's statue in Sevnica
Image credits: X/@Reforma
Originally, a wooden statue of Melania had been carved out of a tree by a local artist, Ales Zupecv. Interestingly, according to CNN, the artist was born in the same hospital and year as Melania's husband, Trump.
The statue featured Melania in a blue dress and heels, akin to her inauguration outfit of 2017. However, in 2020, it was set on fire by someone.
In the same year, a new bronze statue of the First Lady was created by American artist Brad Downey in a private field and was fixed with concrete and metal bars.
It had been placed on the trunk of the tree on which the previous statue had been carved, with a plaque that read: "The eternal memory of a monument to Melania, which stood at this location."
In a conversation with Agence France Presse, Downey shared his feelings on his work being stolen, saying he was "a bit sad that it's gone."
"My feeling is that it has something to do with the new election [of Donald Trump], but who knows, right?" he added. Additionally, he called the statue "anti-monument, anti-propaganda" and said that "it didn't feel right" when the original version was burnt in 2020.
According to many reports, Melania is fluent in her mother tongue, Slovenian, which she had also taught to her son, Barron Trump.
However, the culprit of the theft is still being searched for by the police.
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