“Melania” materialized on the banks of the Sava River in July 2020, four months ahead of her human counterpart’s departure from the White House.
Mysterious Disappearance Leaves Only Feet Behind
Four months after the former Melanija Knavs returned to Washington’s most iconic address, her larger-than-life-size replica has seemingly made an ignominious departure from her home town of Sevnica.
All that is left of the giant bronze statue is the feet and the two-metre-tall tree stump they stood on.
The symmetry would likely be appealing to the quirky US director Wes Anderson who frequently includes absurd heists in his work. But even in his back catalogue, there has never been anything as unusual as the case of the First Lady cursed statue.
A History of Destruction: Melania Memorials in Sevnica
Because this is not the first time a Melania Trump memorial has had a rocky ending in Sevnica.
The initial version was revealed in July 2019. Cut from a single block of wood by a local chainsaw-jockey named Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, it survived for one year before some unidentified vandal decided to make a Fourth of July pyre out of it.
From Wood to Bronze: A Second Attempt at Permanence
Fortunately, US artist Brad Downey who commissioned Maxi to sculpt the wooden original had already cast the statue. It made a triumphant return in bronze, in the same location.
Mr Downey described the new version as having been created to be “as solid as possible, out of a durable material which cannot be wantonly destroyed”.
But, as it happens, it can be cut off at the ankles and removed. Local police indicate they are handling “Melania’s” disappearance as “theft” and opened an investigation.
Artist’s Political Message and Suspicions Around Re-Election
Brad Downey always maintained that his piece was political. He picked Maxi as a collaborator since his upbringing had been one akin to that of the First Lady.
He contended. Melania Trump benefited from a sped-up US citizenship process. Others suffered due to her husband’s “xenophobic” agenda.
Now he thinks the statue’s vanishing “has something to do with Trump getting re-elected”.
Sevnica’s Mixed Feelings Toward the First Lady’s Image
Meanwhile, in Sevnica, authorities are ambivalent. They denounced “any form of interference with private or public property”.
But, they noted, “the image of the US First Lady was not something anyone was proud of.”
