Indonesian villagers thought they had been blessed by an angel fallen from heaven when a beautiful doll washed up on a beach – only to discover it was an inflatable sex toy.

Reports of a heavenly offering spread like wildfire through the community, prompting fears of social unrest.

Villager Pardin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, found the doll when he was fishing off the remote Banggai islands off Sulawesi in central Indonesia.

No divine intervention: Indonesian policemen pose with a sex doll in Banggai in Sulawesi.Indonesian villagers thought they had been blessed when a beautiful doll turned up on a beach only to discover it was an sex toy

The discovery in March came a day after a solar eclipse swept across the area, a deeply spiritual experience in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

This led superstitious locals to believe the two events were linked.

Pardin took the partially inflated doll to his home in Kalupapi village, where it was treated with great reverence.

His mother gave the 'angel' a fresh change of clothes and new Muslim headscarf to wear every day and pictures showed it sitting up in a chair and accompanying locals on a boat trip.

Heaven sent: Villagers gave the 'angel' a fresh change of clothes and new Muslim headscarf to wear every day and pictures showed it sitting up in a chair and accompanying locals on a boat trip (above)

Police decided to investigate after becoming concerned the increasing excitement about the 'angel' could lead to unrest – and soon punctured the theory.

'We were hearing many stories, such as that the "fallen angel" was crying when she was discovered,' said police chief Heru Pramukarno.

'When our officers arrived they saw that the "fallen angel" was just a doll, it was a sex toy.'

The problem, it seemed, was the remoteness of Kalupapi.

'They have no Internet, they don't know what a sex toy is.'

Theory punctured: Police decided to investigate after becoming concerned the increasing excitement about the 'angel' could lead to unrest – and soon established it was a sex toy

After investigating, officers confiscated the doll and took it to the local police station, a move they said was intended to stop false rumours from spreading.

It is not the first time that a sex toy has been mistaken for something else entirely.

In 2012, a Chinese TV station reported a rare mushroom with medicinal qualities had been discovered in a town during drilling for a new well, only for viewers to point out that the object was in fact a sex toy for men.

Sex toys have also sparked police alerts in the past.