Swedish Christmas Goat Survives Attack

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Vandals tried to set fire to a giant straw goat in central Sweden but failed to burn down the traditional Christmas monument, which has been soaked with flame-resistant chemicals, officials said Friday. The overnight raid was the season's first attack on the 43-foot-high Christmas goat in the city of Gavle, 90 miles north of Stockholm. The goat has been burned down more than 20 times in the last 40 years in what has become a yule tradition. Since it was first erected on Dec. 3 in 1966, the goat has been hit by flaming arrows, run over by a car and even had its legs cut off - surviving only 10 times beyond Christmas Day. Last year's goat was burned down by vandals dressed up as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man. They were never caught. As tradition goes, I guess whoever succeeds in burning it down has bragging rights for the year.