A 75-year-old woman has been arrested in Georgia after she apparently cut a fibre-optic cable, severing internet services in Armenia, as well as parts of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The Georgian Ministry of Interior announced that the woman was scavenging for copper and trying to steal the cables. The woman admitted severing the cables and she was released pending trial.

The fibre-optic cables are operated by the Georgian Railway Telecom company, which was rather baffled by the incident.

"I cannot understand how this lady managed to find and damage the cable," said a company representative.