Infamous 'Lake Boone Trail Chicken' returned

WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- We first told you about the infamous "Lake Boone Chicken," when the small metal statue was stolen off its perch in April, and now it's back.

As his "spokeshuman," Nancy Hight likes to say "he's known simply as 'The Chicken,' kind of like Cher." She's dressed up the bird for decades to bring smiles to her neighborhood, and it's been stolen before.

This time when The Chicken was bird-napped, his cousin, emergency back-up chicken Bobby Lee Fowler, filled-in - taking over on Easter, Memorial Day, Prom, and graduation.

Hight's neighbors left behind painted rocks with words like "peace," and "hope" to get the community through the tough time, but now The Chicken is back.

"I was very excited when a friend called me early Saturday morning and said 'I may be seeing double, but there's two chickens,'" Hight said.

Just as the chicken disappeared, it reappeared on its perch again overnight.

"The chicken had either flown home or been returned in a midnight, clandestine return," Hight said.

"It means a lot to us," local 14-year-old Holden Jones said.

"But now that it's back I'm so relieved," his friend, 13-year-old Sam Fogleman said.

"We need that chicken to keep going," their buddy, 14-year-old Scott York said.

"Happy the chicken crossed back over the road," Jones added.

After the egg-cellent news, Hight took extra precaution by securing her not-so feathery friends with Gorilla Glue to make sure they don't fly the coop.

"I'm not sure if we're going to keep two chickens or if one may go on a vacation," she said. "The original chicken probably needs a little spa time."

"Like why would you take it in the first place," Jones said of the person(s) who took it.

"What good do you get out of it?" Fogleman added.

"That's the communities chicken," York said.

Now Hight is securing her chickens in place so they can continue on their platform.

"To say have fun, be kind to people and please stop eating chicken wings," she said. "It bothers the chicken, and especially Super Bowl time, that sort of thing it's very scary for the chicken . . . but other than that that's his platform is: have fun this summer, be kind."