As the US celebrated its Independence Day on July 4, during which Mr. Donald Trump also vowed to punish those who seek to destroy U.S. monuments, a life-sized sculpture of the first lady, Melania Trump was burnt to the ground in her hometown of Slovenia. 

The wooden sculpture of Mrs Trump was unveiled in 2019. It depicts Melania as she appeared on President Trump’s inauguration day, wearing her light blue coat and waving at onlookers. 

The Berlin-based American artist who paid for the sculpture in Slovenia was displeased with the act. “I want to know why they did it,” said the artist when asked for a comment. 

If this were any other first lady, I think we would be somewhat surprised and saddened but unfortunately for Trump, this is his wife we are talking about here. Symbolism aside, the vandals probably did her a favour by the look of the sculpture. There are some major Midsommar vibes going on there, ironically befitting Melania’s vibe.

Apparently, this was not the first time a Trump related sculpture was damaged. In January, a nearly 26-foot statue of President Trump was set alight in Slovenia, according to The Associated Press. 

This sculpture was made in a satirical light, with Trump’s right fist thrust into the air and a mechanism that opens his mouth to show shark-like teeth. 

But this brings up an interesting topic. Many argue some statues are just made to be defaced. Take the statue of Francis Light in Penang that was sprayed with red paint by “vandals”. The statue was erected in 1936, pre-independence to Malaysia. We are a different Malaysia now and that statue just does not represent our values as a nation anymore, plain and simple. 

The man was a British coloniser who came here to plunder the wealth of our nation by dividing us. The irony in all of this is that most British people would be the first to point out the reprehensible nature of their past but here we remain in Malaysia, holding our slave owners in high esteem.