(Newswire.net — January 19, 2020) — A wooden statue mockingly depicting US President Donald Trump has been completely burned in Slovenia in his wife Melania’s hometown, the affiliate of CNN in the region reports.
A statue more than 26 foot high erected last year in a village in northeastern Slovenia depicted Trump with his distinctive hairdo, in a tailored suit, a white shirt and a long red tie. His right hand with a clenched fist is up in the air like the New York Statue of Liberty.
“Like all populist statues, it has two faces. One is humane and fine, the other is the face of a vampire,” said the creator of the piece, Tomas Schlegl, when unveiling the statue last August.
Slovenian police are searching for the perpetrator who set the statue on fire, local authorities told media.
Although the wooden statue quickly became a tourist attraction, the locals were not happy with its appearance and promised to burn the statue by Halloween, October 31st. After an attempt of arson the statue was moved to another place.
Milan Blazic, the mayor of Moravac, where the statue was moved to, said an unknown person set the statue on fire, adding that the burning of statues was “a symbol of intolerance towards artistic projects” in Slovenian society.
It is not the first time in Slovenia that a wooden statue of a member of the Trump family has been made. A life-size wooden sculpture by US First Lady Melania Trump was unveiled in her hometown of Sevnica last June, and has encountered mixed reactions from locals.
The first lady of the United States, born as Melania Knavs, changed her name to Melania Knaus when she started modeling.
She came to New York in 1996 and met Trump two years later.
According to the AP, feelings were mixed about Melania in Slovenia. Many Slovenians had hopes that she would promote her picturesque country and cheered when Trump became the POTUS. However, she rarely mentioned Slovenia in her public appearances, and has not visited her country of birth since Trump’s inauguration.