This is the story of The Great Pumpkin... Woburn-style.

A beautiful, full 35-pound pumpkin found its way to central Woburn about a week ago, as Liz Pacek and family wanted to celebrate the onset of fall. The pumpkin had settled in nicely on Liz's porch, perched between two doors.

Around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, little Chloe—the family's 7-pound maltipoo pup—began urgently barking. Something is wrong with the Great Pumpkin, she seemed to shout.

But, poor Chloe's warnings fell on sleepy ears. Liz admonished her and told her to hush.

The next morning, Liz and Chloe went outside to find that the Great Pumpkin was missing! Liz apologized to Chloe for not heeding her warning, telling her she was now "The family's Wonder Watch Dog." 

The family was sad their Great Pumpkin was gone and thought maybe it was just an early Halloween trick.

But there was a treat awaiting them Monday morning...

The Great Pumpkin had returned!

And it looked a little different.

The Great Pumpkin of Woburn had been carved by an unknown trickster and is back on the Pacek porch, welcoming fall once again.

"Thank you for returning the pumpkin," said Liz. "And I have to say, 'Hat's off!' to a great carving job, no easy task given the size of the pumpkin!"