Potty-Mouthed 'Santa' Letters Horrify Canada

Letters from Santa distributed to at least 10 children in Ottawa are smearing the good name of jolly old St. Nick, the Citizen reports: They contain vulgar messages written by an unidentified “rogue elf.” The head of Canada Post says the country's postal service is "shocked and heartbroken" by the letters, which have shut down the Write to Santa program.

Volunteers add handwritten postscripts to form letters to kids, but they're not supposed to ad-lib like this. One woman discovered inappropriate messages in letters to her 2- and 10-year-old children and called to complain. "'That’s like dirt in my mouth,'" she says a postal worker replied. "'I can’t even say it.'" (More letters stories.)