Norwegian paper runs obit for Father Christmas

A Norwegian newspaper has apologized to its readers after a joke death notice for Father Christmas was mistakenly published on its website, the Guardian reports.

The Guardian says that Aftenposten, one of the country’s largest newspapers, posted a notice reading: “Our dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788 … died on 3 December in Nordkapp,” Norway’s northernmost location. The notice said the funeral for Santa would be held on December 28 at the North Pole chapel, but did not include a cause of death.

In its apology, Aftenposten blamed “an error in [its] internal procedures,” and promised to investigate how the obituary had come to be posted.

The paper said the notice had been “removed immediately” and called it “a violation” of its “strict guidelines for both the content and use of symbols in our obituaries.”