Boston Police report arresting Joseph Rizza, 65, this morning after detectives say they caught him in the act of killing yet another Brighton Center tree - this time with a hammer.

He was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon and five counts of willful and malicious destruction of property, police say, adding they continue to investigate the deaths of trees in the neighborhood over the years.

At his arraignment today, Brighton Municipal Court Judge Patricia Bernstein set bail at $7,000 - $2,000 more than prosecutors requested - but even if he can make that, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon, because she revoked his bail in an earlier case in which he was also charged with slicing up trees to make them die, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Police say detectives set up surveillance outside the Brighton Elks hall, 326 Washington St., several weeks ago. Early this morning, police say, Rizza's decade-long reign of leafy terror ended:

While in the area, detectives observed a male matching the suspect’s description enter the Elks parking lot and begin to cut down a tree. As detectives approached the suspect, he immediately attempted to conceal the hammer he was using to damage the tree. The suspect was ordered not to move and was taken into custody by the detectives.

Rizza has spent time in Bridgewater before, however, but has always returned to the neighborhood to kill more trees, police said last year.

Rizza's alleged MO was not to cut trees down outright, but to damage them enough that they either died or had to be taken down. The constant attacks on trees in Brighton Center got so bad the city parks department refused to plant any new trees because they would just get killed.

Innocent, etc.