removelayer doesn't work if there are child element?

hi, i notice that when i try to remove a layer that has child the removelayer action doesn't work.

example: if i have this element

<layer name="parent" ... >
<layer name="child1" ... />
<layer name="child2" ... />
</layer>

when i use this action:

removelayer(child1); --> work
removelayer(child2); --> work
removelayer(parent); --> doesn't work

so if i want remove all children i have to remove each of them. thanks