'Porky the Litter Eater' refurbished but a Montgomery County mystery remains

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - A Montgomery County "celebrity" has returned.

What we know:

Head to Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda, and you’ll find a miniature train, slides, and plenty of picnic tables – but for generations of Montgomery County residents, it’s Porky the Litter Eater that really stands out.

"Porky’s been here since 1966, and many, many people remember him," Montgomery Parks’ Gary Burnett said of the talking, trash-eating pig face.

And now, after a bit of a makeover, the prominent pig is back.

"We had some questions about Porky looking a little rough, and so we decided to take him down and spend some time and redo him," explained Burnett.

Crews sandblasted him, filled in the cracks, repainted him, and even replaced Porky’s speaker.

"I’m hungry, hungry, hungry," he now says much more clearly.

Montgomery Parks also kept Porky’s distinct voice.

"As soon as we figured out that the recording is valid and the issues were mainly with the speaker, we just put a new speaker in," Burnett said. "We were going with that same recording, and we want to keep it that way."

What we know:

But one Porky the Litter Eater mystery remains.

Burnett said that while Porky itself has been around since the 60’s, his voice recording is at least 20 years old. He recently tried to figure out whose voice it is but had no luck.

"No one seems to know at this point," he told Fox 5. "I’m not sure."

What they're saying:

One thing that is certain: people still love Porky.

"I really liked him when I was little," said 11-year-old Matthew Jens.

Added Matthew Curran, "I think if I surveyed people at work, I think people would say, oh yeah, Porky. Of course we know porky."

By the way, Porky does eat up quite a bit of trash. Burnett said there’s a 40-gallon trash can inside of Porky’s hut, and it has to be cleaned out at least once per week.