A statue of former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump was stolen overnight between May 13 and 14 in Sevnica, her hometown in Slovenia.
The bronze sculpture, created by American artist Brad Downey, had been securely mounted on a concrete-filled tree stump to prevent further vandalism, following the arson attack that destroyed an earlier wooden version in 2020. Despite these precautions, the life-size statue was sawed off at the ankles and removed. Slovenian police have opened an investigation to track down the perpetrators.
Since its installation in 2020, the statue had drawn widespread criticism and ridicule, especially for its resemblance—or lack thereof—to Melania Trump. Dressed in a pale blue outfit similar to the one she wore at Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, the sculpture was nicknamed “the Smurfette” by locals.
Artist Brad Downey has suggested that the theft may have been politically motivated, especially in light of Donald Trump’s renewed presence on the U.S. political stage. Downey, whose work aimed to provoke reflection rather than celebration, pointed out the irony of Melania Trump—an immigrant herself—being married to a president known for his anti-immigration rhetoric.
Melania Trump, now 55, has never returned to Sevnica, a town of about 5,000 residents, located roughly 90 km from Ljubljana. She left Slovenia before the fall of the communist regime and pursued a modeling career in New York in the 1990s. She became a U.S. citizen in 2016 and is Donald Trump’s third wife. Their son, Barron Trump, is reported to still speak Slovene.