'NCIS' star Pauley Perrette cryptically tweets about being physically assaulted on the set

There may be more to Pauley Perrette's sudden departure from the long-running crime drama NCIS than originally thought.

The 49-year-old actress has played the lovable forensic specialist Abby Sciuto since 2003, but in October she announced that she was quitting the show after 15 seasons.

She failed to give fans a reason at the time, simply tweeting that it was her choice and "no my network and show are not mad at me!"

But in a series of new tweets, Perrette implied that her departure was on the back of "multiple physical assaults."

"I refused to go low, that’s why I've never told publicly what happened," she tweeted on May 12. "But there are tabloid articles out there that are telling total lies about me."

She then pondered if remaining silent did more harm than good, but claimed the reality was she had no choice as she was protecting the jobs of the cast and crew.

"Just know, I'm trying to do the right thing, but maybe silence isn't the right thing about crime," she tweeted the following day. "There is a 'machine' keeping me silent and feeding FALSE stories about me. A very rich, very powerful publicity 'machine.' No morals, no obligation to truth, and I'm just left here, reading the lies, trying to protect my crew. Trying to remain calm. He did it."

While Perrette didn't elaborate on what "he" did, looking back she believes that she was bullied on the NCIS set.

"I've been supporting anti-bullying programs forever. But now I KNOW because it was ME!" she tweeted. "If it's school or work, that you're required to go to? It's horrifying. I left. Multiple Physical Assaults. I REALLY get it now. Stay safe. Nothing is worth your safety. Tell someone."

Yet despite her undisclosed alleged ordeal, Perrette said that she still mourns her exit from the show, and filming her final season -- her last ever episode aired in the US on May 8 -- was next-level difficult.

"It makes me sad to imagine a world without Abby in it," she told CBS Sunday Morning last month. "I'm still grieving. And it's sad. I, like, usually cry in my car every single day when I drive to work. I usually cry on my way home at some point. And then I take a deep breath and I go, 'All right,' you know?"