Wooden Statue Of Melania Trump Was Unveiled In Her Hometown

The first lady has been turned into a work of art in her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia.

A monument was erected in commemoration of Melania Trump by conceptual artist Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, according to Time. The monument is a tribute to the first lady on Inauguration Day in 2017, wearing a blue Ralph Lauren dress and waving at the crowd. According to Time, Zupevc made the statue from a tree with a chainsaw.

An artist from Kentucky based in Berlin thought of the idea and commissioned the Sevnica sculptor to proceed. According to Brad Downey’s Instagram, he’s working on a documentary about an exhibition he’s working on. In the Instagram post, Downey says that he and Zupeve have been filming on location at different parts of the town and focuses on Zupeve’s family, environment and class division.

Yahoo News reported that Sevnica has become a magnet for tourists and journalists who want to know more about where the first lady grew up. Locals have been cashing in, according to Yahoo, creating Melania-branded food and merchandise as well as guided tours of the area.

Wine publication Decanter reported that locals are selling salami, chocolate, beauty creams, and a special wine under the first lady’s name.

“We have good wine, we have the best salamis and we have other products that are very good for the area,” Rok Petan?i?, castle steward, said. “We shouldn’t be afraid or feel ashamed of offering them to a wider audience.”

Other items with her name include honey jars with her face, cakes decorated with golden dust, an underwear line and a Christmas tree, according to Herald Tribune.

Trump has taken legal measures, though, to make sure her name isn’t used to make money without her approval. In 2016, Herald Tribune reported that the first lady hired a law firm in her native country to make sure that products didn’t have the Melania name.

People gathered around the artist on Friday in the fields near Sevnica in a small celebration, according to Time. Locals speaking with British TV network ITV described the statue as a “disgrace.”

Critics of the controversial first lady compared the statue to a scarecrow, but Downey said that he “can understand why people might think that this falls short as a description of her physical appearance.”

Trump was born on April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto in the Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia as Melanija Knavs, according to Herald Tribune. She left the area in her 20s to pursue an international modeling career.