Melania Trump sculpture in Slovenia set on fire on US Independence Day

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – A quirky wooden sculpture of US First Lady Melania Trump is reported to have been set on fire near her hometown in Slovenia, prompting its removal.

Brad Downey, the American artist who commissioned the statue, said it was targeted on 4 July, Independence Day in the US.

The Berlin-based artist arranged for the charred statue to be removed the next day.

Police told Reuters news agency they had launched an investigation.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sculpture of Mrs Trump, which could be described as only bearing a crude likeness to the US first lady, was carved out of a tree trunk on the outskirts of Sevnica, her hometown in central Slovenia.

The statue, which depicts Mrs Trump dressed in a blue coat similar to one she wore to her husband’s inauguration and with a club-like hand gesturing to the sky, received mixed reviews when it was erected in July 2019.

Some residents branded the statue a “disgrace”, complaining it looked more like the Smurfs character Smurfette than the first lady.