Melania Trump’s statue has been stolen with no culprit to hold accountable. The First Lady’s statue, which was placed on the banks of the River Sava in Slovenia, is nowhere to be found. The incident has left netizens shocked and amused at the same time.
The statute meant to honor the FLOTUS was unveiled in July 2020, months before Trump’s first term ended. The bronze statue is located in Ronzo, Slovenia, which is near Melania’s hometown, Sevnica.
The original version of the statue, which was wooden, first graced the banks of the River Sava in 2019. Soon after its unveiling, arsonists vandalised it by setting fire to it on July 4, 2020. The wooden piece was made by a local artisan named Ales “Maxi” Zupevc. The inspiration for Zupevc’s sculpture was Melania in her blue dress from Trump’s first inauguration ceremony.
The replacement of the original statue was made with bronze. US artist Brad Downey, who commissioned Zupevc to make the statue, noted that it needs to be made out of a durable material so the statue isn’t “wantonly destroyed.”
To everyone’s surprise, the statue was destroyed yet again. The culprits seem to have sawed off the whole statue this time around. What now remains is only the bronze feet and the wooden stump that it was placed on.
BREAKING NEWS : Melania Trump Statue Stolen in Slovenia:
A life-size bronze statue of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has been stolen from her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, prompting a police investigation. The statue, located in the village of Rozno, was sawed off at the ankles… pic.twitter.com/5FScRSTx8O
— Global Report (@Globalrepport) May 16, 2025
Downey took to Instagram to address the incident while noting that the act of sawing the statue at its feet is to “deny grounding, erase direction, and halt motion.” He added, What’s left is a fragment—rooted, but silenced. A body no longer able to move forward, a ghost.”
Netizens relentlessly trolled the situation after NBC News covered it in a story. “Police in Slovenia are on the hunt for this bronze statue… of believe it or not, Melania Trump. She’s missing,” the report read.
“‘Believe it or not’ is diabolical,” one user wrote, referring to the report. “That’s the statue?? That could literally be of anyone. They put no effort into it,” another quipped. A third joked about the artist capturing Melania’s likeness. “It’s uncanny,” the same person added.
NEW: This is what the Melania Trump statue looks like in her Slovenia hometown now. It was chopped off at the feet and stolen – NYT pic.twitter.com/6XFG6h7JAo
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 17, 2025
A different set of people rushed to the comments section to add how they did not even know that the statue existed. “Who knew this existed?” one wrote in disbelief. “I’m from Slovenia and never knew this existed,” another one added.
Another group of netizens expressed their skepticism when it came to the statue resembling the First Lady. “Sorry, but for such a beautiful lady, that doesn’t look much like a tribute,” one user noted. “That could be a statue of anyone,” a second user added.
Several others speculated how Melania herself “hired” someone to steal the statue. “She probably hired someone to rob it herself,” one user wrote. “I swear she had it removed herself,” another added.
