A bronze sculpture honoring Melania Trump has been stolen from a riverside spot close to her birthplace in Slovenia, almost 5 years after it was put in to interchange an earlier model destroyed by hearth.
Slovenian legislation enforcement confirmed to CNN that the statue, situated within the village of Rožno, had been reported stolen on Tuesday.
The statue stood close to Sevnica, a small city roughly 90 kilometers east of the capital Ljubljana and generally known as Melania Trump’s hometown.
Police spokesperson Alenka Drenik Rangus issued a press release on Friday confirming that officers had “carried out an inspection of the crime scene and picked up info.”
She added that “the investigating decide and the district state prosecutor had been knowledgeable concerning the theft.”
A brand new bronze statue of first girl Melania Trump was unveiled in Slovenia this week, after a wood model of the memorial was burned in July. pic.twitter.com/fZ3lkNMfhm
— CBS Information (@CBSNews) September 20, 2020
Pictures printed in Slovenian media depict the decrease legs and toes of the statue nonetheless affixed to a tree stump, the remainder of the piece having been cleanly severed.
This sculpture had changed an earlier wood model, which was torched by leftist vandals in July 2020. The charred remnants of that piece had been eliminated and later featured in exhibitions.
Brad Downey, the artist behind the venture, defined that he had initially deliberate to supply the bronze solid for show in an institutional setting, however selected as an alternative to put in it on-site as a substitute for the origina.
“I had all the time meant to make a bronze model of the statue to exhibit in an institutional setting,” he mentioned. ”However I made a decision to make use of it to interchange the wood sculpture after it was badly burned.”
BREAKING NEWS : Melania Trump Statue Stolen in Slovenia:
A life-size bronze statue of U.S. First Girl Melania Trump has been stolen from her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, prompting a police investigation. The statue, situated within the village of Rozno, was sawed off on the ankles… pic.twitter.com/5FScRSTx8O
— World In Focus (@worldinfocuss) May 16, 2025
Downey had commissioned the wood model from Slovenian artist Ales Zupevc, a fellow Sevnica native who, like Melania Trump, was born in the identical hospital in the identical 12 months.
The wood piece, with its stylized rendering of the First Girl within the pale blue outfit worn on the 2017 inauguration, acquired a combined response from residents when first unveiled due its its uncommon design.
Sevnica, a quiet city of round 5,000 individuals, has leaned into its affiliation with Melania, selling a line of themed items — together with goodies, truffles, and locally-produced honey — geared toward vacationers visiting the realm.
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