Gävle goat
Timeline

Gävle goat

Section Title: Timeline
Table Section Text: None

Year	Security additions	Date of destruction	Method of destruction	Notes

1966	December 31	Fire

1967	Survived

1968	Fence added.	Survived

1969	Inside of goat protected by chicken-wire netting.	December 31	Fire

1970	Six hours after construction	Fire	The goat's destruction was blamed on two drunk teenagers. With help from several financial contributors, the goat was reassembled out of lake reed.

1971	?	Smashed to pieces	The Southern Merchants became tired of their goats being burned down, and stopped constructing them. The Natural Science Club from the School of Vasa took over and built a miniature goat.

1972	?	Collapsed

1973	?	Stolen

1974	?	Fire

1975	?	Collapsed

1976	?	Hit by a car

1977	?	Fire

1978	?	Kicked to pieces

1979	After the first goat was burned, a second was fireproofed.	Prior to assembly	Fire / Broken	The second goat of the year was destroyed and broken into pieces.

1980	December 24	Fire

1981	Survived

1982	December 13	Fire

1983	?	Legs destroyed

1984	December 12	Fire

1985	Enclosed by a 2 metres (6.6 ft) high metal fence, guarded by Securitas and soldiers from the Gävle I 14 Infantry Regiment.	January	Fire	The 12.5-metre (41 ft) tall goat of the Natural Science Club was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for the first time.

1986	December 23	Fire	The Southern Merchants built their first goat since 1971, and it was burned. From 1986 onwards two goats were built each year, one by the Southern Merchants' and one by the School of Vasa.

1987	Heavily fireproofed.	?	Fire

1988	Survived	Gamblers were for the first time able to gamble on the fate of the goat with English bookmakers.

1989	Prior to assembly / January	Fire / Fire	Financial contributions from the public were raised to rebuild a goat, and the second goat was burnt down in January. In March 1990 another goat was built, this time for the shooting of a Swedish motion picture called Black Jack.

1990	The goat was guarded by many volunteers.	Survived

1991	December 24	Fire	The goat was joined by an advertising sled, that turned out to be illegally built. It was later rebuilt to be taken to Stockholm as a part of a protest campaign against the closing of the I 14 Infantry Regiment.

1992	After 8 days, and again on December 20	Fire / Fire	Both the Natural Science Club and Southern Merchants' goats burned down on the same night. The latter was rebuilt, and burned down on 20 December.

1993	Guarded by taxis[clarification needed] and the Swedish Home Guard	Survived	Once more the goat was featured in the Guinness Book of Records, the School of Vasa's goat measured 14.9 metres (49 ft).

1994	Survived	The goat followed the Swedish national hockey team to Italy for the World Championship in hockey.

1995	December 25	Fire	A Norwegian was arrested for attempting to burn down the goat. It was rebuilt for the 550th anniversary of Gävleborg County.

1996	Monitored by webcams.	Survived

1997	Survived with damage	Damaged by fireworks. The Natural Science Club's goat was attacked too, but survived with minor damage.

1998	December 11	Fire	Burned down during a major blizzard, and was rebuilt.

1999	Within hours	Fire	The Southern Merchants' goat was rebuilt again before Lucia. The Natural Science Club's goat was also burnt down.

2000	Late December	Fire / water	The Natural Science Club's goat was thrown into the Gävle river.

2001	December 23	Fire	A visitor from Cleveland, Ohio in the United States, was arrested for burning the goat. The Natural Science Club's goat was also burnt down.

2002	On Lucia, the goat was guarded by Swedish radio and TV personality Gert Fylking.	Survived	A 22-year-old from Stockholm tried to set the Southern Merchants' goat on fire, but failed, the goat receiving only minor damage.

2003	December 12	Fire

2004	December 21	Fire

2005	December 3	Fire	Burnt by unknown vandals reportedly dressed as Santa and the gingerbread man, by shooting a flaming arrow at the goat. Reconstructed on 5 December.

2006	Survived	The Southern Merchants' goat survived New Year's Eve and was taken down on 2 January. It is now stored in a secret location.

2007	December 24	Fire	The Natural Science Club's goat was toppled on 13 December and was burned on the night of 24 December. The Southern Merchants' goat survived.

2008	December 27	Fire	10,000 people turned out for the inauguration of one of the goats. No back-up goat was built to replace the main goat should the worst happen, nor was the goat treated with flame repellent (Anna Östman, spokesperson of the Goat-committee said the repellent made it look ugly in the previous years, like a brown terrier).

2009	December 23	Fire	A person attempted to set the Southern Merchants' goat on fire the night of 7 December. An unsuccessful attempt was made to throw the Natural Science Club's goat into the river the weekend of 11 December.

2010	Survived	On the night of 2 December, arsonists made an unsuccessful attempt to burn the Natural Science Club's goat. On 17 December, a Swedish news site reported that one of the guards tasked with protecting the Southern Merchants' goat had been offered payment to leave his post so that the goat could be stolen via helicopter and transported to Stockholm.

2011	Sprayed with water to create a coating of ice.	December 2	Fire	Mild weather resulted in the protective ice melting. The Natural Science Club Goat was also burned.

2012	December 12	Fire

2013	Soaked in flame-retardant.	December 21	Fire

2014	Survived	At least three arson attempts were made. The Natural Science Club goat was collapsed.

2015	December 27	Fire	A 26-year-old man fleeing the scene with a singed face, smelling of gasoline, and holding a lighter in his hand was arrested.

2016	November 27	Fire	Destroyed by an arsonist equipped with petrol on its inauguration day, just hours after its 50th "birthday party". Organizers said they would not rebuild the goat this year.

2017	Double fence, cameras, guards	Survived	The goat was inaugurated on December 3. No reported attempts to burn the goat were made.

2018	Fencing, cameras, guards, taxi rank to increase numbers of people nearby	Survived	The goat was inaugurated on December 2. An attempted burning of the Natural Science Club's goat occurred on the night of 15 December, resulting in minor damage to its left front leg.

Sentence(s)

Gävle goat measured 14.9 metres (49 ft), which earned another place in the Guinness Book of Records.

final_sentence: Gävle goat measured 14.9 metres (49 ft), which earned another place in the Guinness Book of Records.