Burnt Goat

["Sinclair" <labehotierre@wanadoo.fr>]

Dear Lena

Came across this news article.  Do you know about this tradition.

Sinclair



An American faces two years in prison for burning Christmas ornament

A US tourist is facing jail after a Christmas prank went wrong.

The 51-year-old was visiting Sweden and allegedly set fire to a six-metre
high Christmas goat.

The unnamed American is said to have told police he thought it was a festive
custom.

"He had heard it was a tradition," police investigator Maria Palmaeus-Edlund
said. "He says he didn't know it was a crime."

The crime carries a two-year jail sentence.

Every year, residents of Gaevle, 100 miles north of Stockholm, celebrate
Christmas by building a giant goat made of straw on a wood and steel frame.

But every year the goat is burned down by vandals.

The American, seemingly unaware that many residents dislike the burning
tradition, became the subject of a citizens' arrest after he allegedly
torched the goat with his lighter.

The man, born in Illinois and with a passport issued in New Orleans,
Louisiana, has confessed and the American embassy has been notified,
Palmaeus-Edlund said. In line with Swedish legal practice, his name was not
publicly disclosed.

The man had "had a few beers" with some friends, she said, but it wasn't
clear whether he was drunk.





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