Melania Trump statue unveiled in Slovenia to mixed reviews

A statue of first lady Melania Trump was unveiled Friday near her hometown in Slovenia that has definitely raised eyebrows.

The life-size wooden sculpture was made from the trunk of a linden tree and stands in a field next to the Sava River in the village of Rozno, which is about five miles from the first lady’s hometown of Sevnica.

The statue's face bears no likeness to her, but the piece does feature Trump wearing a blue coat, similar to the one she had on at her husband’s presidential inauguration in 2017.

The piece was commissioned by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey and is part of his exhibition examining the first lady's ancestry in Slovenia. A local artist named Ales "Maxi" Zupevc carved it with a chainsaw.

"Both Maxi and Melania were born on the same year in the same hospital, but their lives have taken drastically different directions," read a description about a documentary on the project.

"I don't know her personally, but she's my age," Maxi says in the film. "We were both born in April. All the more reason to make the statue. Being born the same year, the same month. She might come and see the thing. She might like it."

Maxi also knows while their backgrounds are similar, they have little else in common.

"Let's face it, she owns half of America while I have nothing," he said.

The statue has people scratching their heads. "Perhaps we are simply trying vigorously to make sense of things that might only be a slapstick prank," the gallery hosting Downey's exhibition said in a brochure. "Who knows?"

The unorthodox piece has caused a stir. Residents called it "a disgrace" and a "Smurfette," while noting "it doesn't look anything like Melania," reported the BBC.

On Twitter, some weren't shy to express their opinions.

"The internet IS trying to kill me. I howled," one user wrote, adding a laughing emoji.

Another wrote, "Words fail me. Was it supposed to be a parody, or an honest effort to honor her?"

"I can understand why people might think that this falls short as a description of her physical appearance," Downey told AFP. Despite that, he said the work is "absolutely beautiful."