How do you safely remove a fixed shelf from an entertainment armoire?

First you have to find out how its attached, is it screwed in, glued, doweled, or biscuited, If its screws and glue,and the screws are hidden you will need a metal detector, (woodworking stores have cheap ones) they will have to be located and removed.with biscuits, dovetailed,dadoed,you will have to stripe the area to see the joints.then I would cut the board as close to the joint as possible, then smooth the wood flush, you will have to veneer the area because you will see the end grain of the old shelf, (make sure there are no nails or screws, or you will ruin your tools). Then refinish. Good-Lucke