$re = '`^(?:#|//)_+NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_BEGIN_+(?:\n.*)*?\n(?:#|//)_+NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_END_+\n*`m';
$str = 'i want this
#____NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_BEGIN________
not this
nor this
#________NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_END____
and this
//____NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_BEGIN__
not this again
nor this again
//__________NOT_FOR_CUSTOMER_END____
and this again';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php