Swedes guard Christmas goat from vandals
`For 40 years it has been torched, vandalized, had its legs cut off and even been run over by a car. But officials in the Swedish city of Gavle are guaranteeing that this year’s giant straw Christmas goat – the victim of Sweden’s most violent yule tradition – will survive unscathed.
The 43-foot-high goat – a centuries-old yule symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts to Swedish homes – has been burned down 22 times since it was first set up in Gavle’s square on Dec. 3, 1966.
But for its 40th anniversary Sunday, officials think they have finally outsmarted the resourceful vandals by dousing the battered ram with flame-resistant chemicals normally used on airplanes.’
