Remove wrapping <a> anchor tag from an image using jQuery

Question

I am trying to remove the first wrapping tag of an image IF one exists

   <div class="feature">
        <a>
          <img width="252" height="79" alt="" src="http://localhost:81/site/wp-
          content/uploads/2011/12/home-highlights.jpg" title="home-highlights" 
          class="alignnone size-full wp-image-55">
        </a>
   </div>

I've had a look at a number of options and I assume my approach is correct here:

$(".feature img").closest('a').remove();

If I use the example above,it removes the image too which is not what I want of course.

Answer 1

jQuery has a built-in function for it: unwrap:

$(".feature a > img").unwrap();

unwrap docs:

Remove the parents of the set of matched elements from the DOM, leaving the matched elements in their place.

child(>) selector docs:

Description: Selects all direct child elements specified by "child" of elements specified by "parent".

Thanks @am not i am!
JSFiddle DEMO

Answer 2

The unwrap method is the one you want:

 $(".feature a").children('img').unwrap();