Eighty-three-year-old Paul Brugger is charged with two counts of criminal mischief for damaging the city-owned trees. The trees were valued at around $15,000. The charges are felonies because the value of each tree exceeded $5,000.
Brugger declined comment Tuesday.
The trees were damaged by slicing around their bases, a process known as "girdling." The damage cuts off the flow of nutrients to the tree, usually killing it within a few years.
Authorities say two witnesses saw Brugger take a chain saw to the trees. Officials plan to replace the trees.