Gävle goat succumbs to flames
Yuletide arsonists have once again successfully set the Gävle goat ablaze. Police received a call around 3am on Wednesday that the Christmas goat in the eastern Swedish town was on fire.
While last year's goat managed to survive until December 27th, this year the 13-metre-tall straw billy succumbed to flames just three days before Christmas.
This was the 43rd traditional straw goat that Gävle has erected in the main city square a few weeks prior to Christmas. It has become a local sport to attempt to burn the goat to the ground.
“It was more or less just a skeleton by the time we got there,” Göran Lyrberg, commander on duty at the Gävle police, told TT news agency.
No one has been arrested for the incident, which is classified as serious vandalism. Most Gävle goats have been burned down or vandalised in some other way.
In the last couple of years, the goat has not been treated with flame retardant because it previously discoloured the straw creature and detracted from its grand stature.
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While last year's goat managed to survive until December 27th, this year the 13-metre-tall straw billy succumbed to flames just three days before Christmas.
This was the 43rd traditional straw goat that Gävle has erected in the main city square a few weeks prior to Christmas. It has become a local sport to attempt to burn the goat to the ground.
“It was more or less just a skeleton by the time we got there,” Göran Lyrberg, commander on duty at the Gävle police, told TT news agency.
No one has been arrested for the incident, which is classified as serious vandalism. Most Gävle goats have been burned down or vandalised in some other way.
In the last couple of years, the goat has not been treated with flame retardant because it previously discoloured the straw creature and detracted from its grand stature.
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