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Police charged Zachary Lollar, 19, with communicating threats.
Lollar's neighbor said it all started Monday night when he noticed the holly plant in front of his Sorrell Street townhome had been hacked up.
"The last thing in the world after working 10 hours as a welder you want to come home with a 19-year-old kid wielding a machete," Cameron McMahill told ABC11 by phone from his job site.
McMahill said he soon found out from a neighbor who the culprit was, and he confronted Lollar at an apartment on the backside of McMahill's townhouse.
Recounting what he said happened, McMahill said, "At that time, the kid was still on the back of his stoop with the machete drinking a 22-ounce Icehouse with his dog out. And I asked him, 'Are you the one who cut down my plants?' He replied, 'Yes.' I asked him, 'Why did you cut down my plants?' He said because he was mad."
McMahill wasn't surprised to find out Lollar has been arrested five times and charged with nine crimes in the past two years.
His last arrest before Monday was for violating his probation on convictions of attempted breaking and entering and theft.
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Neighbors weren't surprised by Lollar's record either.
"This young gentleman across the street has been a ruckus ever since he's been around. There was a swarm of police cars here yesterday," neighbor Drew Ratliff said.
McMahill says the confrontation moved to the area in front of his townhouse with Lollar still holding the machete.
"He was very specific on what he was going to do with the machete, which was i.e. cut my head off, i.e. chop me up, do all this other insane stuff," he said.
Lollar refused to comment on the case but did say he was moving out.
That was a relief to the victim and other neighbors.