Credit: New York Times
Sevnica: -- Where is Melania Trump?
No, not the rarely seen first lady, but the statue made in her likeness that watched over her nearby hometown, Sevnica, Slovenia.
The life-size bronze statue, 15 minutes outside Sevnica, disappeared from its perch this week. The theft was reported Tuesday, police said. But it's not clear when, exactly, it was taken, Alenka Drenik, a spokesperson for the police, said by phone Friday.
"Police are still assessing the theft, and an investigation is still ongoing," Drenik added.
Residents of Sevnica have their suspicions. Some in the town of about 5,000 people in eastern Slovenia say it could have been an act of vandalism; others say it was probably melted down for cash. None of the people interviewed thought, however, that the statue's disappearance had been in any way political.
"Melania is rarely seen in the spotlight or anywhere else, and even when she does do something, it's so bizarre, so I don't even want to think about her that much," said Igor Pavkovic, who has lived in Sevnica all his life and recalled laughing when he first saw the statue.
The expressionless sculpture, its arm raised in a tight wave, never quite captured the heart of Sevnica's residents. Originally made of wood, it was hacked from a linden tree and unveiled in 2019 by an artist who used a chain saw to create a very, very rough likeness of the first lady.
Painted powder blue to reflect the cashmere dress and gloves that she wore to her husband's first inauguration, in 2017, the wood statue stood 9 feet tall. But it was derided as resembling a scarecrow or a Smurf. Anonymous arsonists set the statue on fire July 4, 2020.
A bronze replacement was erected later that year. Now, only the statue's heavy cubist feet, hacked off at the ankles, remain on the tree trunk that had served as the statue's plinth. It had stood in a lonely field, far away from the municipal apartment block where Trump grew up and the school she attended. The privately owned field overlooks the Sava River and a verdant valley, but only runners and cyclists would have regularly crossed paths with the statue.
Both the wood and metal iterations had been commissioned by an American artist, Brad Downey, who worked with local artisans to create the sculptures. Downey said at the time that he saw it as an interrogation of President Donald Trump's harsh stance on immigration.
"The idea to commission the first monument to Melania has some cheekiness to it, but I wanted to do a serious investigation there," Downey said.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the statue's disappearance, it vanished at a time when public dissatisfaction with Donald Trump's second-term policies have been expressed globally through vandalism of Tesla vehicles, the electric car company owned by Elon Musk, Trump's adviser. Satirical advertisements mocking both men have also popped up around London in recent weeks.
Few in Sevnica said they would miss the statue.
"I only saw it in pictures, and I thought it was very unesthetic," said Nena Bedek, an art teacher who said she had gone to school with Melania Trump. "I had the feeling someone was making fun."
"We were all ashamed of the statue when it was first unveiled, especially Melania and the Knavs family," said Bruno Vidmar, a hotelier whose business has thrived off the factory town's tenuous claim to the White House. Melania Trump's businessman father, Victor Knavs, has been known to stop by Vidmar's hotel for dinner when he is in town.
Trump was born in Novo Mesto, and her family later moved to Sevnica. She left in 1985 and has not been seen there since. That hasn't stopped the town from capitalizing on its most famous ambassador. She has inspired coffee, chocolate and comfy slippers, all cleverly branded to avoid copyright claims.
In a gift shop hangs an amateur painting that merges the facade of the White House with Sevnica's other famous attraction -- a 12th century castle. A patisserie in Vidmar's hotel serves a slice of Melania: a white chocolate, cream and mascarpone sponge cake, drizzled with walnuts, pistachios and sesame seeds. Vidmar's wife came up with the recipe during Donald Trump's first term, the hotelier said.
Locals say it's fresh and elegant -- like the first lady.
"We can be proud of her that she is the first lady now for the second time," said Meri Kelemina, who lives in a village near where the statue once stood.
She added that the statue and its location had done little for the town and had not flattered Sevnica's most famous former resident.
"I think she deserves a nice landmark," she said.