And yet, sabotaging the goat is almost as much of a tradition as erecting it. The Gävle Goat is a 12.8-metre, three-tonne statue made with a wooden skeleton covered in straw.

STOCKHOLM – In what’s become a Christmas tradition to some Swedes, a giant decorative goat made of straw was set ablaze early Sunday and police arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of arson.

The Swedish city of Gävle is best known for erecting a 13-metre Christmas ‘goat’ every December – but naughty locals are hellbent on stealing their hometown’s defining feature.

The Gavle Yule Goat, or julbocken in Swedish, is a 42-foot-high statue made of wood and straw erected every year before Christmas, has become famous nationwide since one was first installed on a ...

Every year, the town of Gävle, Sweden, erects a straw Christmas goat, left, which is a favourite target of vandals. This year, its smaller companion, at right, was burned. (Submitted by Maria ...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Vandals in Sweden have burned down for the 27th time a giant straw goat meant to symbolize Christmas spirit. The 13-metre high and 3.6-ton heavy straw goat was engulfed in ...

A giant straw Yule goat in the Swedish town of Gavle was set ablaze on Friday for the first time in five years, reviving a long-running tradition of locals illegally attempting to torch it and ...

STOCKHOLM -- In what's become a Christmas tradition to some Swedes, a giant decorative goat made of straw was set ablaze early Sunday and police arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of arson.

The unexpected story of Gävle’s gigantic traditional Swedish Yule Goat - ‘Gävlebocken’ - started as a way to attract customers to the southern parts of the City in 1966. Since then, the 13-meter high ...

Advertisement The fire marks the 34th time the gigantic Christmas goat or 'Julbocken' has been burned down since it was first erected in Slottstorget square in the city of Gävle, central Sweden, in ...

The Swedish city of Gävle is best known for erecting a 13-metre Christmas ‘goat’ every December – but naughty locals are hellbent on stealing their hometown’s defining feature.

The Gavle Yule goat, a 42-foot (12.8 meter) high statue made of wood and straw erected every year before Christmas, has become famous nationwide since one was first installed on a town square in ...