In 1923 it was decided to erect the monument in honor of the soldiers from Svilajnac, killed in the Balkan Wars and World War I from 1912 to 1918. The foundation stone was laid in 1923 and the monument was dedicated on 27 October 1926. The monument was designed by Slovene sculptor Ivan Zajec and the model for the bronze sculpture was a local woman Zora Milosavljević Bidžić. There are several stories on her identity. A mythical ones, claim that Mara was a fighter in the Resava region against the Ottoman invasion in 14th century or a daughter of legendary Jug Bogdan who became a nun with her mother after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. One of the plausible stories mentions Mara, a daughter of Kosovo migrant Joksa Resavac, from the period of the First Serbian Uprising, who fought the Turks with Sinđelić and the Resava knez Petar Jakovljević Erčić. Soon a cult of Mara Resavkinja developed and she was considered a symbol of maternity, freedom and life, with numerous songs being written about her. Monument shows Mara holding a torch in the right hand and laurel wreath in the left. Under her feet are the trumpet and a drum, symbols of monarchy. Because of this, a representative of the King Alexander on the monument's dedication left the ceremony. Due to this symbolism, the monument was attacked and finally in 1934 it was decided to demolish it. Actually, mayor of Svilajnac Mihajlo R. Milenković officially pleaded for the figure to be replaced with some other, "more appropriate", so the demolition was announced on 3 October 1934, but ban of the Morava Banovina nullified the decision of the town's administration on 26 October. King Alexander was assassinated in the meantime (9 October), situation in the state became unstable, followed by the breakout of the World War II, so the monument survived. However, it was destroyed during the World War II. The local Četniks' unit knocked down the bronze figure and melted it into the hand grenades. After the war, citizens decided to rebuild the monument. Sculptor used the surviving Zajec's molds to cast the identical figure which was unveiled on 29 November 1951.