France’s smaller Statue of Liberty to join big sister for US independence day

Workers prepare the Liberty Enlightening the World by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a mini-replica of the French-designed Statue of Liberty, in Paris (Francois Mori/AP)

A replica of the Statue of Liberty, smaller but based on the original plaster cast of its big sister on Ellis Island, a gift from France, was given a send-off ahead of a trip to the United States where it will be displayed for Independence Day.

The nearly three-metre-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.