Statue of Liberty's 'little sister' arrives in United States from France in time for Fourth of July

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Statue of Liberty's 'little sister' shipped from France to the United States

Shipping company CMA CGM is taking this miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty from France to the United States, where it will go on display at Ellis Island and then at the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.

A miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty arrived in New Jersey after a week-long voyage from France on Wednesday morning and will be set up at Ellis Island for Independence Day. 

The 10-foot, 1,000-pound statue has been on display at Paris's Musée des Arts et Métiers for the last 10 years, but was shipped to America under a joint effort by the Embassy of France in the United States, the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers and the shipping company CMA CGM Group. 

The "Liberty Enlightening the World" by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a mini-replica of the French-designed Statue of Liberty, is waiting for its move, in Paris, Monday, June 7, 2021. A bronze 1/16 replica smaller but based on the original plaster cast of its big sister on Ellis Island, a gift from France, was given a sendoff Monday ahead of its trip to the United States where it will be displayed for Independence Day on July 4. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

"The arrival of the new Lady Liberty will celebrate the most central value of the French-American partnership: freedom," the French Embassy said this month. 

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The statue was being offloaded in New Jersey on Wednesday morning at a ceremony attended by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, French Ambassador Philippe Etienne, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Chairman Kevin O’Toole, and CMA CGM and APL North America President Ed Aldridge. 

"We are very, very proud to transport this statue," Aldridge told Fox News. "This project not only stands for great values — the great values of freedom, liberty, and friendship — the project also showcases the group’s capabilities to design and deliver complex, supply end-to-end solutions by delivering this unique statue, this precious piece of art here to the U.S."

The Statue of Liberty's "little sister" was placed in a specially designed plexiglass case and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean this month.  (Christophe Pelletier)

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It will now go on display at Ellis Island, the site that 12 million immigrants passed through from 1892 to 1954, through the July 4 celebrations. Ellis Island is three-quarters of a mile from Liberty Island, where the original Statue of Liberty was put on display 135 years ago. 

From there, it will debut in the garden of the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. on July 14, which is Bastille Day in France and celebrates the French Revolution.