A bronze sculpture honoring Melania Trump has been stolen from a riverside spot near her birthplace in Slovenia, nearly five years after it was installed to replace an earlier version destroyed by fire.
Slovenian law enforcement confirmed to CNN that the statue, located in the village of Rožno, had been reported stolen on Tuesday.
The statue stood near Sevnica, a small town roughly 90 kilometers east of the capital Ljubljana and known as Melania Trump’s hometown.
Police spokesperson Alenka Drenik Rangus issued a statement on Friday confirming that officers had “conducted an inspection of the crime scene and collected information.”
She added that “the investigating judge and the district state prosecutor were informed about the theft.”
A new bronze statue of first lady Melania Trump was unveiled in Slovenia this week, after a wooden version of the memorial was burned in July. pic.twitter.com/fZ3lkNMfhm
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 20, 2020
Images published in Slovenian media depict the lower legs and feet of the statue still affixed to a tree stump, the rest of the piece having been cleanly severed.
This sculpture had replaced an earlier wooden version, which was torched by leftist vandals in July 2020. The charred remnants of that piece were removed and later featured in exhibitions.
Brad Downey, the artist behind the project, explained that he had originally planned to produce the bronze cast for display in an institutional setting, but chose instead to install it on-site as a replacement for the origina.
“I had always intended to make a bronze version of the statue to exhibit in an institutional setting,” he said. ”But I decided to use it to replace the wooden sculpture after it was badly burned.”
BREAKING NEWS : Melania Trump Statue Stolen in Slovenia:
A life-size bronze statue of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has been stolen from her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, prompting a police investigation. The statue, located in the village of Rozno, was sawed off at the ankles… pic.twitter.com/5FScRSTx8O
— World In Focus (@worldinfocuss) May 16, 2025
Downey had commissioned the wooden version from Slovenian artist Ales Zupevc, a fellow Sevnica native who, like Melania Trump, was born in the same hospital in the same year.
The wooden piece, with its stylized rendering of the First Lady in the pale blue outfit worn at the 2017 inauguration, received a mixed reaction from residents when first unveiled due its its unusual design.
Sevnica, a quiet town of around 5,000 people, has leaned into its association with Melania, promoting a line of themed goods — including chocolates, cakes, and locally-produced honey — aimed at tourists visiting the area.
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