Police investigate disappearance of Melania Trump’s statue in her native Slovenia

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LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of U.S. first lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and carried away from her hometown.

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LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of U.S. first lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and carried away from her hometown.

The life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office near Sevnica in central Slovenia, where Melanija Knavs was born in 1970. It replaced a wooden statue that had been set on fire earlier that year.

Police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik Rangus said Friday that the police were informed about the theft of the statue on Tuesday. She said police were working to track down those responsible.

FILE -A bronze sculpture representing Melania Trump stands on a bank of the Sava river in the village of Rozno, near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
FILE -A bronze sculpture representing Melania Trump stands on a bank of the Sava river in the village of Rozno, near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

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.

Ankles of sawed off and taken away bronze statue which represented Melania Trump remain on the tree stump where it was placed in 2020, in the village of Rozno, Slovenia, Friday, May 16, 2025, near Melania Trump's hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
Ankles of sawed off and taken away bronze statue which represented Melania Trump remain on the tree stump where it was placed in 2020, in the village of Rozno, Slovenia, Friday, May 16, 2025, near Melania Trump's hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
This Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 photo shows the bronze statue representing Melania Trump that was sawed off and taken away, in the village of Rozno, Slovenia, near Malenia Trump's hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
This Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 photo shows the bronze statue representing Melania Trump that was sawed off and taken away, in the village of Rozno, Slovenia, near Malenia Trump's hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
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