It’s not a hidden fact that Melania Trump has been missing from the White House for the most part of Donald Trump‘s second term. And now, in a bizarre turn of events, her bronze statue has also gone missing.
The theft was reported on May 13 as the lifesize statue of the First Lady, which had stood on a tree stump in a private field near her hometown, had vanished. What’s more shocking is that the statue was chopped off at the ankles. As soon as the theft was reported, the cops visited the crime scene and started the investigation.
The bronze statue was unveiled near her hometown of Sevnica in 2020 to replace a wooden carving that was set on fire on July 4 of the same year. American conceptual artist Brad Downey learned about the theft while working on a new project in Germany. He said he was “a bit sad that it’s gone,” as reported by The Guardian.
A new bronze statue of first lady Melania Trump was unveiled in Slovenia this week, after a wooden version of the memorial was burned in July. pic.twitter.com/0nVGXShV1E
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 18, 2020
He speculates that the crime might be related to Trump’s election as the new President. Since Trump’s controversial policies are widely opposed within America and other parts of the world, Downey told AFP, “My feeling is that it has something to do with the new election [of Donald Trump], but who knows, right?”
Downey had replaced the wooden statue with the bronze one while describing it as an “anti-monument, anti-propaganda.” The original statue featured Melania in a blue dress and heels, depicting her look from Donald Trump’s first inauguration. The statue was carved out of a tree with a chainsaw by local artist Aleš Župevc.
Statue of Melania Trump torched in her native Slovenia https://t.co/8cm3YoRZb8 pic.twitter.com/MDhGsR4sZ6
— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2020
The bronze statue, placed in a private field, was fixed with concrete and metal bars toward the end of Donald Trump’s first presidential term, while he was campaigning for re-election (which he lost to Joe Biden).
Downey told German magazine Monopol that the new statue had to be “as solid as possible, out of a durable material which cannot be wantonly destroyed.”
Melania Trump statue removed after it was set ablaze in Slovenia pic.twitter.com/eY6cgWYZtg
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) July 9, 2020
It isn’t known if Melania personally ever saw either of the two statues.
Meanwhile, the First Lady of the United States has been in the news for staying away from the White House ever since Trump started his second term in January. A New York Times report stated that Melania spent less than two weeks at the White House in the last three months. The reason behind her absence could be her personal projects, including her $40 million deal with Jeff Bezos’s Amazon to produce a documentary about her life.
Scroll down for some latest images of Melania Trump:
Donald and Melania Trump hosted governors at the White House in February 2025.
Melania and Donald Trump attended Pope Francis’ funeral in April 2025.
