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A New Zealand woman accused of destroying a Buddha statue at the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia has admitted doing it because it "didn't belong in the temple". Willemijn Vermaat, 40, of Wellington, was detained by authorities early on Friday morning but was later released. Cambodian authorities earlier said there was no direct evidence that Ms Vermaat was responsible for destroying the statue but she confirmed to APNZ today that she had. The woman reportedly destroyed a Buddha statue at the Bayon temple - an intricately decorated Khmer shrine, believed to have been built in the late 12th century. Ms Vermaat told APNZ today: "I did push over Buddha." "I had been travelling in Laos and Cambodia for three and-a-half, four weeks, so I visited many of the temples and met a lot of beautiful Laos people who are Buddhist so it's not [like] me to discredit somebody else's religion. "That night some strange things happened and I don't know, maybe I can just bring it down to being possessed by something and although I still remember everything as well....I was aware but I wasn't completely the person in charge so to say. "Walking through it, I was drawing to go towards the centre of the temple, so I put down my bag at the entrance where I would meet my tuk-tuk driver and I went in and from that moment on I felt really strange. "The temple is not a Buddhist temple, it belongs to a goddess called Inanna - and this is not something I knew, this is something they told me - one of the things that she hates...is rubbish and she feels that her temple has been used for the wrong things." Ms Vermaat, who returned to Wellington last night, said she apologised to Unesco for damaging the site. The site is described by Unesco as "one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia". Cambodian authorities alleged Ms Vermaat destroyed the statue after she went missing inside the Bayon temple last Thursday night. A statement from the Apsara Authority said her tuk-tuk driver had asked the local tourist police service for help finding her. She was found early on Friday morning. Ms Vermaat was detained by police for questioning but was later released, the Cambodia Daily reported. Shortly afterwards, authorities found the 1m-high Buddha statue had been broken into four pieces at the Bayon temple. The Apsara Authority then sought to take her back into custody, but she had already left the country. The Cambodia Daily said the statue dated back to the reign of Jayavarman VII, in the 12th century. It was already broken into several pieces when it was discovered, and was restored in 1988 to be displayed at Bayon. However, the Phnom Penh Post reported the statue was a replica dating back to 1988. The paper said the temples at Angkor Wat were filled with replicas due to widespread looting and war. Ms Vermaat said she spent her night in the temple cleaning it by candlelight. "One of the last things I had to do is - I had to sit and meditate...I first tried to sit on Buddha's lap which was really uncomfortable and so they said 'no, no, no, you have to sit where Buddha sits'. "So then I basically had to push him over because he's a big statue...so that I could sit there. "Really, I felt so bad...I apologised to Buddha and then I pushed him over and then I sat there [and meditated]." Ms Vermaat said she had been travelling alone and spoke local police after leaving the temple, who later let her go because after explaining her story they didn't believe what she had done was wrong, she said. "I apologised that I pushed Buddha over and broke the Buddha. I told them, 'this is a really strange story, nobody will believe what happened'." Ms Vermaat said she believed that the statue should be replaced, but not in that temple. "It doesn't belong in that temple." I am amazed what women of a certain age, can do and justify as being right and appropriate... "I first tried to sit on Buddha's lap" really? what was the first thing that came up?