A statue of Melania Trump was kidnapped near her hometown in Slovenia after being badly burned by vandals.
The statue near Sevnica in central Slovenia was set on fire on July 5, Slovenian police told CNN on Thursday.
Brad Downey, the artist who commissioned the piece, told CNN on Thursday that he had 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 a current project which includes a short documentary film.
The statue was removed on July 5 and Downey said he asked residents not to distribute photos of the burned figure so that it does not become a "violent meme".
Downey filed a police report, but said he only wanted to find the assailants, not file a complaint against them.
"I would be curious to see who did it," he told CNN. "Someone doesn't like what he represents or what he looks like," said Downey, who believes that the timing of the attack - the US Independence Day weekend - means that it was not a random "drunkenness". "
Slovenian police told CNN in a statement that they considered the case "property damage which is a criminal offense".
Downey has since posted a video of the removal of the statue on his Instagram account.
Downey previously told CNN that he had been inspired to create the play because of what he called the "anti-immigration narrative" from the United States and Donald Trump in particular.
He said it was a "contradiction" that the American president, who made immigration stop a cornerstone of his presidency, be married to an immigrant whose mother tongue is not English .
Downey asked a local conceptual artist named Ales Zupevc, better known as Maxi, born in the same hospital and the same year as the first lady, to sculpt the statue of a tree using a chainsaw .
Although media reports said the statue divided public opinion, locals love the project and have cared for the statue and the surrounding area, said Downey.
"They only supported," he said. "They were really proud of this thing."
Melania Trump obtains a tree statue in Slovenia
Downey told CNN he was working on an artistic response to the attack, as well as a video on the media's response to the statue.
"I will probably try to do something there," he said, adding that the original "deeply burned" statue is now in storage.
Downey also published a book - "Slapstick Formalism" - last month and is preparing for a new exhibition in Slovenia in September.
Sevnica is a sleepy town of 5,000 people who took advantage of their most famous daughter, placing themselves firmly on the tourist trail and selling a range of Melania themed products, including honey, chocolate and cakes.
This article has been updated to correct the date the statue was vandalized.
