Trump wax figure pulled from Texas display after visitors attacked it – reports

 Statue of ex-president apparently had deep gouges inflicted by museum patrons who clawed and punched it, local report said

A member of the Madame Tussauds studio team adjusts a wax figure of Donald Trump in London on 4 November 2020.
A member of the Madame Tussauds studio team adjusts a wax figure of Donald Trump in London on 4 November 2020. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
Guardian staff

A wax figure of Donald Trump has been pulled from the display of a wax works exhibit after visitors keep attacking it, local US media have reported.

“When it’s a highly political figure, attacks can be a problem,” said Clay Stewart, the regional manager for Ripley Entertainment, which owns the Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks in San Antonio, Texas.

The figure of the former US president apparently had deep gouges inflicted by patrons to the museum who clawed and punched it, according to the San Antonio Express News newspaper.

Stewart told the Express News: “We’ve always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was – Bush, Obama or Trump – they’ve all had people beat them. The ears were torn off Obama six times. And then Bush’s nose was punched in.”

It is not the first time a statue of a Trump family member has been defaced. A statue to ex-first lady Melania Trump in her native Slovenia was removed after being set on fire by vandals.

In a statement Suzanne Smagala-Potts, public relations manager for Ripley Entertainment Inc, said the firm had no political leanings and repairing its public figures was common.

“When a wax figure has been damaged, we will remove the figure from public display and send it to our talented team of artists for repair,” Smagala-Potts said.

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