Bronze statue of Melania Trump unveiled in Slovenia

(15 Sep 2020) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4288209 A bronze statue representing US First Lady Melania Trump was on Tuesday unveiled in her native Slovenia to replace a wooden one that was set on fire in July. The new sculpture is a replica of the original one that was commissioned by US artist Brad Downey and placed near Trump’s home town of Sevnica, in central Slovenia. The original statue - carved by local folk artist Ales Zupevc - was torched by unknown arsonists on 4 July 2020. It was carved in a linden tree and pained in light blue to resemble Trump’s outfit at her husband’s swearing in ceremony. The sculpture bares no obvious resemblance to the US first lady. A group of locals gathered at the site watching as the new statue was unveiled. Zupevc climbed the wooden stand, smiling as he stood by the life-size sculpture. A plaque reads that it is “dedicated to the eternal memory of a monument to Melania which stood at this location.“ Born Melanija Knavs in nearby Novo Mesto in 1970, the new U.S. first lady grew up in Sevnica while Slovenia was part of the Communist-ruled former Yugoslavia. A country of some 2 million people, Slovenia is an Alpine nation, known as nature-loving and environment-friendly. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: