Mini Lady Liberty statue heads to US for July 4 celebrations

PARIS (AP) — A replica of the Statue of Liberty, smaller but based on the original plaster cast of its big sister on Liberty Island, a gift from France, was given a sendoff Monday before a trip to the United States where it will be displayed for Independence Day.

The nearly 3-meter-high (nearly 10-foot high) bronze will make a nine-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean later this month, sailing out aboard a container ship from the French port of Le Havre to Baltimore. It will then be transported to the U.S., arriving in time for July 4 celebrations.

The mini-Lady Liberty is then set to go on display in the gardens of the French Embassy in Washington D.C., arriving there in time for France’s Bastille Day celebration July 14. The statue will stay there for the next decade.

The monumental Statue of Liberty in New York's harbor, by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, symbolizes the United States’ welcoming to its shores of immigrants seeking refuge and freedom. A gift to America in 1885, it also serves as a monument to the enduring French-American friendship.

The Statue of Liberty “is a like our Eiffel Tower,” said U.S. Embassy representative Liam Wasley at the send-off ceremony, calling it an icon that symbolizes not just liberty but “the richness of our relationship” with France.

The smaller version heading to the U.S. had been displayed in Paris at the Musee des Arts et Metiers.

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This story has been corrected to show that the Statue of Liberty is on Liberty Island, not Ellis Island.