Whether a political statement or just locals fed-up with the eyesore, someone torched the statue on July Fourth. The statue went up last year, much to the dismay of many Slovenians. Source: New York Post A wooden statue of first lady Melania Trump was torched near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, on July Fourth, according to the artist who commissioned the sculpture. Brad Downey, a Berlin-based American artist, told Reuters he had the blackened and disfigured life-sized sculpture removed as soon as police informed him a day later of the vandalism. “I want to know why they did it,” said Downey, who had hoped the statue would foster a dialogue about the political situation in the United States and highlight the first lady’s status as an immigrant married to a president sworn to reduce immigration. Melania Trump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news service. President Trump in recent weeks has made preservation of statues in the US — even those of Confederate leaders who tried to defeat the union in the Civil War — a campaign priority as a number have been damaged by protesters demonstrating against racism and police brutality It seems this was the prevailing opinion at the time of the unveiling.read more