As a heatwave scorched the US, a six-foot-tall wax statue of Abraham Lincoln, the country’s 16th president, melted over the weekend outside an elementary school in Washington, DC.
The statue, which replicates the Lincoln Memorial, succumbed to the soaring temperatures that reached 37.7 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in Northwest Washington on Saturday. A now-viral photo shows Lincoln’s head and right foot melted, with his legs separated from the torso.
Sharing the viral photo, X user Kirk A Bado commented, “Maybe a wax Lincoln sculpture wasn’t the best idea during DC’s first week of summer heat.” The photo, showing Lincoln’s head and right foot melted and his legs separated from his torso, has garnered 14.5 million views since it was posted on June 24.
Reactions to the photo have varied. One user remarked, “I look the same after 16 hours of work.” Another commented, “Now Americans will believe in climate change.” A third user reacted, “Triple digits!! That sounds crazy anywhere in the world where nobody uses Fahrenheit.”
The wax statue was installed by Virginia-based artist Sandy Williams IV in February on the historic site of Camp Barker, a Civil War-era refugee camp that housed former slaves and those freed. The statue is part of Williams IV’s ‘The Wax Monument Series’ and is located on the grounds of Garrison Elementary School, according to a report by the BBC.
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