Abe Lincoln Cheese Sculpture in DC

Those strolling through the nation's capital this Fourth of July weekend might catch a glimpse of Abraham Lincoln in the form of cheese.

For the past three years, Troy Landwehr has been commissioned by the Cheez-It cracker company to carve a sculpture with a patriotic theme to be displayed in Washington, D.C.

The Post-Crescent reports that Landwehr created the life-size statue of Lincoln out of 1,000 pounds of cheddar to commemorate the bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth.

"I think it's a big honor to carve Lincoln," Landwehr told the Post-Crescent last week while working on the sculpture.

Landwehr spent five days carving the masterpiece after looking at every detail of the president's face. He made sure to capture Lincoln's beauty mark, sunken cheeks and even his smirk. "It's a lot of research," he said. "I really enjoyed this carving so far -- nothing's fallen off or broken."

People have snapped photos of the sculpture and posted them on Flickr