Slovenian authorities investigate disappearance of bronze Melania Trump statue

Slovenian police have launched an investigation into the mysterious theft of a life-sized bronze statue of Melania Trump, which had stood in a field near her hometown of Sevnica since 2020.

The statue, a replacement for a previous wooden version destroyed by arson, was reportedly cut off at the ankles and taken away.

“The theft was reported on May 13 and immediately police officers visited the crime scene and launched an investigation,” police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik Rangus told AFP on May 15.

The statue’s creator, American conceptual artist Brad Downey, said he learned of the theft while working on a new project in Germany. “I’m a bit sad that it’s gone,” he said, suggesting that the timing might be politically motivated. “My feeling is that it has something to do with the new election (of Donald Trump), but who knows, right?” he told AFP.

Downey had commissioned the original statue in 2019 as part of an art project exploring identity and symbolism. It depicted Melania in a blue dress and heels and was carved from a tree using a chainsaw by local artist Ales Zupevc. After vandals set it on fire in 2020, Downey replaced it with the bronze replica, which he described as an “anti-monument, anti-propaganda” piece. The new statue was installed on a tree stump in a private field, reinforced with concrete and metal bars.

The installation was timed near the end of Donald Trump’s first term as US president while he was running for re-election. Melania Trump’s rise to global prominence when her husband assumed the presidency sparked interest in her native Slovenia, especially in Sevnica — a small town about 90 kilometers (60 miles) east of the capital Ljubljana.

Although Trump never visited her homeland during his presidency, Melania’s legacy in Sevnica remains. The town has embraced her image, creating a range of branded products such as cakes and chocolates named in her honour. Melania left Slovenia, then part of communist Yugoslavia, to pursue a modelling career long before becoming the US first lady.

By Tamilla Hasanova