The BBC has posted an amusing security lesson about the historic battle between arsonists and the keepers of a straw goat:

Goats of Christmas past have been burned down on 22 occasions, ram-raided or simply smashed to pieces.

Authorities said the goat’s longevity in 2006 was down to a special flame-resistant chemical coating.

“If the Gavle goat hadn’t been impregnated with flame-resistant chemicals, we would have been left with a black skeleton,” said Anna Oestman, a member of the city’s goat committee.

Leave it to a Swedish city’s “goat committee” to provide the world a way to protect straw from catching fire. But is it safe to touch/breathe, and can animals eat it, or is it just for decoration (like most food preserved and then brought out for the holiday season)?

This year was a big success compared to last year’s tragic end:

In 2005, arsonists dressed as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man burned the goat to the ground.

Beware the Santa who wants to get your goat.