Seven Santa Clauses who got higher than a rooftop were busted for being drunk on Saturday in San Francisco during the annual SantaCon pub crawl.

The Santas were nabbed downtown and at the northern waterfront, according to police officer Robert Rueca. Fifteen other Santas were treated by medics for being drunk, tipsy, wobbly, sick or in other conditions brought on by excessive good cheer.

SantaCon, the annual celebration that started in San Francisco in 1994 and spread around the world, features countless celebrants in Santa suits fanning out from Union Square and bellying up to countless bars.

“It’s not officially sanctioned,” said Rueca, “but people do have the freedom to wear whatever disguise they want — that’s out of our control.”

It was not immediately known if there were more drunk Santas this year than in past years. Rueca said that everyone, including Santa, is subject to the same rules about public drunkenness “and it doesn’t matter what outfit you’re wearing.”

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com