The replace command does not seem to be able to replace a paragraph with
nothing (i.e., delete the paragraph) if the paragraph immediately precedes a
table.

I found this when a VB macro failed to delete occurrences of a standard
paragraph immediately preceding tables, but the same problem appears when I
use replace from the edit menu. The find command steps through the
occurrences properly, as does find next in the replace dialog, but neither
replace nor replace all change anything.

I can select and delete the paragraphs manually with mouse/keyboard, but
this is tedious.

This does not seem to be related to page or section breaks (I have none).
Any ideas?? Work arounds??