I'm more familiar with the Gävle goat than yule goats in general, but I'll take a whack at it.
From my one hour's worth of research, the yule goat is a very old character in Scandinavian winter festivals. The likely source of that is Christianization of an existing festival. Thor is best known as the god of thunder, but he was also god of the harvest, and was prominent in the yule festival (the celebration of the last harvest).
Thor rode a chariot pulled by goats and goats are associated with him in general, so goats became associated with yule festivals too. People would dress as goats and walk the streets begging for food, pulled goat-themed pranks on each other involving wood and straw goats, etc... Over time yule goats when from pulling Thor's chariot to Santa's sleigh, but some old traditions remain. Straw goats are still common Christmas ornaments, and large ones are erected in town squares around the first day of yule/advent.
1966, the town of Gävle Sweden decided to build the biggest yule goat ever as a tourist attraction. It was 13 meters (43 feet) tall, and made of straw. It was burnt down New Year's Eve... commencing an arms race between those who protect the goat, and those who delight in the old yule tradition of Fire and Mayhem.
This arms race has included:
Running through the goats' legs with a car
Coating the straw in a protective layer of ice
Flaming arrows shot by a guy in a Santa suit
Coating the straw in flame retardant (it burnt anyway)
Bribery to allow the goat to be kidnapped by helicopter
Making a second smaller goat (which was also burnt down most years)
Read the Wikipedia, it lists the goat's fate from every year. It has been destroyed more years than it has survived.
Overtime, the goat gained a cultural mythos that the destruction of the goat was a sign that the next year would be prosperous, and that the survival of the goat was an ill omen.
2017 they seriously increased security. A double fence, a 24 hour Webcam, and a large team of guards. The goat survived-2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Which we can all agree were some very shite years. Over the course of those years, what had been a fairly localized tradition got more coverage- the goat had never survived so long.
2021, the goat finally burned. And in that good old yule tradition of seeking levity in the darkest and coldest time of year, people have joined together in the fervent hope that the evil of the last four years will be torched along with it. That is why we rejoice- for The Goat Has Burned, and like the yule log and dawn on the solstice, we are manifesting that it is a sign that better times are coming.
2087
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