A bronze statue of First Lady Melania Trump in Slovenia has been stolen — cutting it off at the ankles. It was not an easy feat as the bronze structure was anchored to a tree stump in a field near Melania’s hometown Sevnica.Thieves cut it from the ankles, and now an investigation has been launched into the brazen theft.But the incident is eerie as the earlier statue of the First Lady too had a fateful end. It was a wooden statue which was set on fire in 2020. The bronze statue was a level up to withstand such accidents but this time it was cut off. The bronze life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. In the same year, the bronze statue was erected. 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.

‘My feeling is that…’: What the sculptor said

American conceptual artist Brad Downey, who was the sculptor of the statue, said it’s a bit sad that the statue is gone. “My feeling is that it has something to do with the new election [of Donald Trump], but who knows, right?” the artist said.The wooden structure also had a contribution from Downey who worked with local artist Aleš Župevc who took a chainsaw to a fallen linden tree to make the first statue. It’s not known whether Melania Trump ever saw any of these statues — which bore no resemblance to her. President Donalod Trump, for sure, did not see these statues and he never visited Slovenia. Slovenia also had a two-faced statue of Donald Trump — one face depicting him as a nice person and another a vampire. But that statue too was burned to the ground.