Mixed reactions trail new ‘bizarre’ Melania Trump statue unveiled in her home country, Slovenia

A statue of US First Lady Melania Trump has appeared on the outskirts of her Slovenian hometown.  

US artist Brad Downey hired a local chainsaw artisan, Ales Zupevc, to carve the likeness out of a tree trunk outside the town of Sevnica and the result was a wooden rendering of Melania Trump dressed in a blue coat with a club-like hand gesturing to the sky.  

Some residents described it as “a disgrace”, a “Smurfette”, saying “it doesn’t look anything like Melania”. However, Downey told Reuters news agency he wanted to “have a dialogue” with the US political situation.  

The town of Sevnica has become a tourist magnet ever since Donald Trump was elected US president in 2016, and Ms Trump – a famous former resident – became the first lady.