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Tom
Schlegl's 8-metre (26 foot) statue in the village of Sela, north
of the capital Ljubljana, depicts a man with blond hair and an
angry expression, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie.
His right arm is raised with a clenched fist.
"I designed the statue because people have forgotten what the
Statue of Liberty stands for. I want to alert people to the rise
of populism and it would be difficult to find a bigger populist
in this world than Donald Trump," Schlegl said.
Schlegl added that he did not mind that most people see his
statue as representing Trump.
The 56-year-old architect said he had got the idea for the
statue after a wooden sculpture of Melania was inaugurated near
her hometown of Sevnica by U.S. artist Brad Downey less than two
months ago.
The Sela statue, erected by volunteers, can only remain in its
current location for two months and then a new home must be
found for it, Schlegl said.
"It could be somewhere in Slovenia or abroad - even Greenland if
there is interest there," joked Schlegl, referring to Trump's
recent abortive bid to buy Greenland from Denmark.
(Reporting by Srdjan Zivulovic and Marja Novak; Editing by
Gareth Jones)
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