The statue, made by prominent Hungarian sculptor Miklós Ligeti, depicts Bandholtz with his riding crop in one hand. According to the historical fact about his standoff with the Romanian military, he had persuaded them to stop looting the National Museum with nothing more than the crop and the force of his personality. The incident is described in detail in his book "An Undiplomatic Diary by the American Member of the Inter-Allied Military Mission to Hungary, 1919–1920". Today the crop is on display in the Hungarian National Museum.