A pony, a goat, Big Yak -

Vandals torch Swedish Yuletide straw goat for 24th time

Despite surveillance cameras and heavy security, vandals in a small Swedish town have burned down a giant Yuletide straw goat for the 24th time since 1966, the Associated Press reports.

A spokeswoman for the city of Gavle says someone set fire to the 43-foot-high creature during the night, leaving behind only a charred wooden skeleton.

"It feels very sad," says Anna Ostman. "We had really hoped that he would survive Christmas and New Year's."In addition to the 24 burnings, the goat has been smashed several times, run over by a car and had its legs cut off since it was first erected 43 years ago.

Ostman says fireproofing chemicals were used in 2006 and 2007, but it left the goat looking more like a brown terrier, so that was discontinued.
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Vandals are seldom caught, the AP says. In 2005, the goat was burned down by two arsonists dressed up as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man. They were never caught.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/12/vandals-torch-swedish-yuletide-straw-goat-for-24th-time/1