After a year of enduring the unfortunate sight of a Melania Trump statue — a crude eyesore thought of by locals as a “disgrace” and likened to a “Smurfette”, Melania’s hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The wooden statue, carved with a chainsaw by artist Brad Downey, was set on fire July 4th by “vandals,” according to CNN, and then promptly carted away by officials.
Downey said he received a call from the local police department asking him what to do with the statue, which was made in July 2019 as part of an ongoing project that includes a short documentary film.
He said the statue was removed on July 4 and he asked locals not to distribute photos of the scorched figure so it did not become a “violent meme.”
Downey has filed a police report but said he is only interested in finding the attackers, not pressing charges against them.
“I would be curious to see who did it,” he told CNN. “Someone doesn’t like what it represents or how it looks,” said Downey, who believes that the timing of the attack — on US Independence Day — means it was not a random “drunken act.”
