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 Melania Trump's hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — 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.
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Slovenian police are looking for a missing bronze statue of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. The figure, created by U.S. artist Brad Downey, had been placed in the village of Rozno, near Malenia Trump's hometown of Sevnica. The statue is shown here on Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Local people look at the bronze statue of Melania Trump on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo)
Melania Trump was born and grew up in Slovenia before moving abroad as a fashion model and eventually marrying now-U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Photo) (AP)
Police say someone sawed off the statue from its ankles where it was placed on a tree stump. The remains of the statue are shown here on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
The theft of the statue was reported to Slovenian police on May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek) (Relja Dusek/AP)
It's not the first time artist Brad Downey has had a statue of Melania Trump disappear. A previous wooden figure, erected in the same place, was destroyed by arson. It can be seen here in this image from July 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Miro Majcen)
The original wooden statue of Melanie Trump had mixed reviews from locals. It's shown here on July 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Miro Majcen, FILE)
The initial wooden statue, shown here on July 5, 2019, was life-size. It depicted Melania Trump in a blue outfit and high heels. (AP Photo/Miro Majcen)
It's unclear whether Melania Trump had ever seen the wooden or bronze statues. Her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump, has never visited Slovenia during either term. (AP Photo/Miro Majcen)
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.
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.
