<?php

$text = "!@#$%^text!@#$%^";
$text = preg_replace('~^[^\w]+~', "", $text);
echo $text . PHP_EOL;
$text = "!@#$%^text!@#$%^";
$text = preg_replace('~^\W+~', "", $text);
echo $text . PHP_EOL;
$text = "!@#$%^0987641text!@#$%^";
$text = preg_replace('~^[\W\d]+~', "", $text);
echo $text . PHP_EOL;