"Santarchy," as you know, is the technical term for any violent rampage carried out by large groups of people dressed as Santa Claus. The latest incident of Santarchy took place in New Zealand, on December 18, when as many as 40 Santas, many of them drunk and in "ill-fitting costumes," ran wild through downtown Auckland.

According to police, the Santarchy began early that afternoon when the Santas threw beer bottles and urinated on cars from an overpass. They then ran through a city park, throwing more bottles, turning over trash cans and spray-painting graffiti on buildings.

One Santa "climbed the mooring line of a cruise ship before being ordered down by the captain." (For complying, he should be banned from future Santarchy.) After he was arrested (as were two of his compatriots), other Santas attacked security personnel. The remaining Santas robbed a downtown convenience store. "They came in, said ‘Merry Christmas’ and then helped themselves," said the owner.

A spokesman for the group called Santarchy "a worldwide movement designed to protest the commercialization of Christmas."

MSNBC.com
Thanks to Lisa Lukaszewski for this Christmas miracle.