PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — An Albanian artist has built a portrait of Mother Teresa using staples, in a call for European countries to stop raising fences to shut their borders to refugees.

Built in less than a month, Saimir Strati has unveiled the 10-square-meter (12-square-yard) mosaic portrait of Teresa, built with 1.5 million wire staples, at the National Museum of Kosovo in the capital, Pristina.

Strati's idea came after seeing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees coming to Europe while diplomacy and politics failed to resolve their situation.

The 50-year-old Strati decided to unveil the portrait on Monday, which is Albania's independence day. The tiny Western Balkan nation was part of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries until Nov. 28, 1912.

Teresa, who was recently made a saint, was born to Albanian parents.