Few Christmas traditions are as capable of pulling at the heartstrings of young and old alike as the Christmas goat. Why then, Swedish officials wonder, does their Christmas goat consistently meet an ugly fate?

First erected in the Gavle, Sweden, town square in 1966, the 43-foot-high straw Christmas goat has been burned down 22 times. It has been smashed to pieces and driven into. But this year, officials say they’re ready.

“After 40 years,” said a spokeswoman for the committee in charge of building the goat, “we think we finally have found the solution.” The goat has been fireproofed by a company so confident in their work they’ve publicly stated that “not even napalm can set fire to the goat now.”

The Christmas goat pre-dated St. Nick as the deliverer of presents in Sweden. It’s thought the tradition evolved from the myth of two goats pulling Thor’s chariot. Last year’s Christmas goat was taken down by flaming arrows fired by two men dressed up as Santa Claus and a gingerbread man.

» Scott Saxon